Manchester United finally have a vision and a sense of direction in their transfer activity but it’s never possible to impress everyone so count Ben Foster among those unimpressed.
Ineos have focused their efforts on signing young and upcoming players for the first team and also adding high-quality youth talent to the academy side.
It has resulted in signings like Chido Obi for the youth team and Diego Leon and Ayden Heaven for the senior setup, with Patrick Dorgu just 20 too.
However, signing an unproven player comes with the unknown of how he will turn out, and the circumstances surrounding one transfer in particular worry former United man Ben Foster.
Ben Foster questions Ayden Heaven’s transfer
Ayden Heaven is perhaps the biggest example of Man Utd’s revamped transfer strategy as Glazers would never have sanctioned the move for a player who’s yet to play senior football of any substance.
That is the gamble United have taken by making, and promoting Heaven as a part of the first-team setup, not an academy signing.
Foster said that the circumstances surrounding the move raise some questions, especially considering a recent breakthrough and the opposite direction the two teams are heading in.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said: “It does raise a lot of eyebrows and questions. What kind of character is happy to leave Arsenal when there’s a pathway for him, a route to a successful first team?
“To go and join a Man Utd that is, at least from the outside, chaotic and toxic. Why has he done that?”
Foster implied that a bigger wage packet might have convinced Heaven to move which is not the right motivation and can hamper a player’s drive.
Heaven can prove Foster wrong at Man Utd
Heaven has been greeted with intense scrutiny because of his status as a first-team signing and his role could expand with Lisandro Martinez’s injury.
As a left-footed defender, he has the profile the Man Utd squad is sorely lacking and even though the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly have made a breakthrough for Arsenal, the defensive ranks are closed.
That is why the talk of a pathway at Arsenal is not completely correct, especially as Ruben Amorim brings a reputation for promoting young talent from his Sporting days.
In fact, things being chaotic at Man Utd is exactly why Heaven is better placed to succeed at Old Trafford since he can solve a problem that nobody else can at United.
That’s extreme pressure, but then again, nobody mistakes playing at United to be an easy ride.
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