Ayden Edford Heaven (born 22 September 2006) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Club career

Arsenal

Heaven joined the academy at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

when he was eight years old, where he stayed for four years. After a trial with Chelsea, he joined the academy system at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, the club he had supported since childhood. He signed a scholarship contract with Arsenal in the summer of 2023. He trained with the Arsenal first team squad on occasion during the 2023–24 season. Heaven was heavily involved with Arsenal first team training during the 2024 summer pre-season, and was one of three youngsters, along with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, individually praised by manager Mikel Arteta in August 2024. The following month he was included amongst the match-day substitutes for the North London derby against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in the

. He made his Arsenal debut on 30 October 2024, away at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

helping Arsenal win 3–0.

Manchester United

On 1 February 2025, Heaven joined

for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with an option for an extra year. He made his first-team debut coming on as a substitute against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in the 2024–25 FA Cup fifth round. On 9 March in the Premier League, he debuted for Manchester United against Arsenal. He came on as a second-half substitute, replacing Leny Yoro. He made his first start for Manchester United on 13 March 2025 in the Europa League round of 16 match against Real Sociedad. On 16 March 2025, he made his first Premier League start in an away match against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. On 30 May 2025, Heaven scored his first senior goal in a friendly against Hong Kong, with United winning the match 3-1.

International career

In May 2024, Heaven made his debut for the England U18 side against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Style of play

A naturally left-footed defender, Heaven has been deployed on the left of Manchester United's three-man backline where he has been able to display his channel defending and capability on the ball.

Career statistics

Honours

Manchester United *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

runner-up: 2024–25

References

2006 births Living people Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Arsenal F.C. players England men's youth international footballers 21st-century English sportsmen English people of Jamaican descent Premier League players Footballers from the London Borough of Islington Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Manchester United F.C. players {{Authority control