Arsenal academy defender Ayden Heaven has confirmed his departure with a post on social media, as he prepares to join Manchester United.
Seemingly on the verge of announcing his transfer to Manchester United, Arsenal’s Ayden Heaven has confirmed his departure from the Gunners with a farewell post on Instagram.
“As the time has come for me to move on, I wanted to say how grateful I am to the good people at Arsenal who supported me during my time with the club,” Heaven wrote.
“As a North London boy, I lived the dream of training and playing at Hale End and London Colney, as well as making my professional debut in the League Cup.
“A big thank you too to Arsenal fans.”
Fabrizio Romano recently reported that 18-year-old Heaven was set to join United from Arsenal on a permanent deal. United have since confirmed the signing, suggesting they plan to use him as a first-team defender.
Arsenal had offered Heaven a new contract, and Eintracht Frankfurt had also made a transfer approach, but the player turned down both options in favour of the Manchester switch.
The Athletic report that the fee is in the region of £1.5m, with Heaven signing a contract to 2029 with the option of an additional year.
With players like Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, and Jonny Evans unlikely to be around for long, and Matthijs de Ligt and Martinez proving underwhelming signings, perhaps there’s an opening there.
Leny Yoro is the one United defender you’d expect to be around for a long while yet. But he’s right-footed, whilst Heaven is better on his left. They probably won’t be fighting for the same spot.
Heaven likely wasn’t particularly enjoying his recent spell with Arsenal, losing the final eight games of his academy career. The one bright spot in that run was his first-team call-up against Preston North End, as he played 10 minutes in the 3-0 win.
With Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri breaking into the Arsenal first team and becoming regulars, Heaven may have felt that it was his turn to make the step up as well.