Manchester United defender Ayden Heaven has reportedly made a decision on his future
Manchester United youngster Ayden Heaven(Image: Photo by Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images)
Manchester United teenage defender Ayden Heaven will not be switching international allegiances from England to Ghana, according to reports this week.
The 19-year-old, formerly of Arsenal, signed for the Red Devils for a nominal fee at the start of the year and made a handful of senior appearances towards the tail end of last season. He made his first-team debut in March in a Europa League clash against Real Sociedad.
This term, Heaven has made several Premier League appearances, five of which have been starts. He recently played the full 90 minutes in a narrow defeat against Aston Villa, and featured against Newcastle on Boxing Day, where he was named the Premier League Player of the Match as Amorim’s side kept a rare clean sheet.
So far, the teenager has represented England at various youth levels and earned his first call-up to the Under-20s side in the autumn. He was not selected for the November international break due to injury, but is likely to be included in one of the squads when international football resumes in the spring.
Despite being born in London, Heaven also qualifies to represent Ghana through a grandparent, and his development has understandably been monitored. Under current FIFA rules, players can switch national teams provided they have played no more than three competitive senior games before the age of 21, have not featured in the latter stages of an international tournament and as long as three years have passed since their last senior appearance.
According to the BBC, Heaven will not be switching allegiances to represent Ghana, with the World Cup fast approaching. Although Ghana did not qualify for the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, they did book their place at next summer’s tournament in the United States and have been drawn in a group with England, Croatia and Panama.
Manchester United’s Ayden Heaven has represented England at youth level(Image: Photo by Nathan Stirk – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
The article notes that Heaven wants to represent England at senior level and force his way into the first-team squad, a feat he will surely achieve so long as he continues on an upward trajectory at United.
Heaven has earned the praise of manager Ruben Amorim this season, with the Portuguese coach highlighting the youngster’s attitude and application in training. “I am really pleased with Ayden,” he told the media recently.
“You can feel that he is improving every game. He is young, but you can feel that he has a good game, slows the thinking and improves during the game.
“He trained really well. If he continues to play like that, it is going to be really hard to take his place.”
United return to action on Tuesday night with their final match of 2025 at home against Wolves. They will then start the new year with an away trip to Leeds this weekend.
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