Ruben Amorim has hinted that one ‘fantastic’ teenage star will play an important role for Manchester United next season after impressing him.
Manchester United have finally finished their dismal 2024/25 campaign and absolutely no one will be missing it any time soon.
Ruben Amorim will be well aware that major improvements are needed next season and new signings are set to be made to help the Portuguese head coach going forward.
But the Reds also have a lot of talented young players who can be a part of the team tasked with turning things around at Old Trafford.
There are several youth players within the Academy or in the first-team squad who have shown their talents and deserve to be given a chance next season.
Amorim hints that excellent United star will have important role
Ayden Heaven joined the club in January from Arsenal for just £1.5 million but had yet to start a professional game in his career. The 18-year-old made one appearance off the bench for the North London outfit.
The young defender was initially viewed as a first-team signing for Amorim’s side but many fans doubted that this would be the case. Soon afterwards, however, Heaven showed why that was the case.
After being thrown into fixtures against Fulham, his former club Arsenal and Real Sociedad, Heaven looked like he was a seasoned professional. Amorim joked about how he is perhaps ‘too calm’, while Wayne Rooney labelled him as ‘fantastic’.
Heaven has only made six appearances this season due to the fact he suffered injury against Leicester City after that stretch of games, and also had a setback after he returned. But the defender reminded fans of his talents in United’s final-day victory over Aston Villa.
Speaking after that game, Amorim praised technical director Jason Wilcox for the signing of Heaven and said that United need “these types of players”, which does not only suggest that similar transfers can be expected, but also that Heaven could have a significant role under the 40-year-old next term.
“Once again, Jason Wilcox is doing a great job,” Amorim told club reporters, crediting the 53-year-old for the smart signing.
“Bringing Ayden… it is these kind of players that we need because he shows a lot of character and quality after a big injury. We want this kind of player.”
Heaven could push for starting role at United
It seems surprising to say that Heaven has only played six times for the club, completing 90 minutes just once against Sociedad, but that also speaks to his talent levels and the impression he’s left on the head coach and fans in that short amount of time on the pitch.
With more time to settle in and a full pre-season to get as fit as possible, there is no reason why Heaven cannot really push to be a consistent starter next season.
With Lisandro Martínez still out of action for a while, that spot on the left side of the back three is somewhat up for grabs. Leny Yoro has performed excellently there recently.
But the idea of having both Yoro and Heaven in the defensive line together – it has not happened yet – is an exciting prospect as they both have the physical attributes Amorim demands from his wide centre-backs in this system.
It would be no surprise if we see the two teenagers paired alongside an experienced central centre-back, either Harry Maguire or Matthijs de Ligt, for games next season.
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