Fabrizio Romano: Man Utd in contact to sign first-team Arsenal defender | OneFootball

Manchester United have made contact to sign Arsenal defender Ayden Heaven, according to Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

The 18-year-old Gunners academy graduate, who made his first-team debut against Preston North End in the Carabao Cup last October, is not only attracting the Red Devils.

Eintracht Frankfurt and Barcelona are also keen on recruiting the services of Heaven, but Man United are leading the race and are hoping to lure him away to Old Trafford.

Arsenal want to hold on to the teenage sensation and have offered him a new deal, but the temptation to move elsewhere could appeal to the youngster.

Man United successfully lured Denmark youth international striker Chido Obi-Martin away from the North London club in the summer and will fancy their chances of landing Heaven.

He was heavily involved with Arsenal first-team training during the 2024 summer preseason and was included in the matchday squad for the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League last September before making his official bow the following month.

The England youth international can also play as a box-to-box midfielder and at left-back, and the Red Devils love his versatility and have identified him as a potential Premier League star.

Arsenal will be desperate to hold on to their Hale End graduate, but it could be too late given the plethora of options available for him at the moment.

It remains to be seen whether Heaven will get the opportunity to be involved more with the first-team at Man United than he already is with the Gunners, but he is unlikely to be attracted to them if that chance has not been promised.

Obi-Martin did not get to feature for the Arsenal senior team, but he has been training with the first-team at Man United in recent weeks and his game is becoming increasingly familiar to head coach Ruben Amorim and his staff as they get a closer look at him.

Heaven will be hoping for something similar if he joins the Old Trafford club, but he is already experiencing that with the Gunners and clearly wants more going forward.