The eye-catching 10-minutes that show why Man Utd have pounced for Ayden Heaven, he was flawless

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Manchester United have almost completed a deal to sign defensive starlet Ayden Heaven this month.

The 18-year-old Arsenal defender had suitors across Europe.

However, Tuesday brought news of Manchester United’s success in the race to sign Ayden Heaven.

United have agreed to sign Heaven from Arsenal, and he is set to play a first-team role as Lisandro Martinez’s support which is long overdue.

Heaven is a player with very limited senior exposure, and so it is very much a punt in the dark for United based on the player the club hopes he can become.

However, in this limited exposure, there is reason to be excited.

• READ MORE: Who is Ayden Heaven? Profile, Parents, Age, Position, Career & More

Ayden Heaven’s Arsenal debut shows Manchester United encouraging signs

United signing Heaven, while exciting, is a huge unknown for the club with very limited first-team football to judge him from.

However, earlier this season, Heaven did make his senior competitive debut for the Gunners against Championship side Preston North End – where he had a 10-minute cameo.

• 10 minutes
• 94% passing (15/16)
• 18 touches
• 100% tackles (1/1)
• 1 defensive action
• 1 recovery
• 100% duels (1/1)

This is obviously a very small sample size and not too much can be read into it – however as it was his debut, he will have felt tonnes of pressure and yet managed to have a very solid outing.

There are more senior games during pre-season, in which Rasmus Hojlund schooled Heaven, but little can be read into these games.

Due to this, we simply have to trust the verdict of Jason Wilcox and Christopher Vivell on Heaven and believe that they have found a gem.

The exciting thing is that Heaven still has levels to go, with multiple things to improve.

• READ: Who is Christopher Vivell? Everything you need to know

Where Heaven needs to improve at Manchester United

Chido Obi has already welcomed Heaven to United, and the pair may get chances to play together over the next few months.

Heaven has been signed as a first-team player – yet this might not be an immediate thing, with U21 football a good place for him to learn his role considering Travis Binnion plays the same formation of United.

In order to be a Premier League centre-back, Heaven is going to need to become stronger and more convincingly in a defensive manner.

This is likely to come naturally as the 18-year-old will fill out and naturally become stronger and more imposing to forwards.

His performance in the Carabao Cup is promising and shows he is potentially already at a good Championship level – meaning he could very well be completely Premier League-ready soon.