‘He needs more…’: Ruben Amorim explains why coveted United youngster isn’t playing as much as fans anticipated

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·8. Dezember 2025

‘He needs more…’: Ruben Amorim explains why coveted United youngster isn’t playing as much as fans anticipated

Ruben Amorim granted Ayden Heaven his second successive start this evening for Manchester United’s trip to Molineux.

The coach’s decision to include him in the XI over Leny Yoro was an eyebrow-raiser for supporters, especially given Heaven was hooked at the interval of United’s clash with West Ham last Thursday and replaced by Yoro.

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In the first half of the outing, Heaven had struggled to match the pace of the game and had been brandished a yellow card inside the first eight minutes, making for a nervy half-hour of action to avoid a potential second booking.

From Amorim’s perspective, it made more sense to call upon Yoro, who boasts more senior experience than his counterpart – despite only a year separating the two defenders in age.

How Heaven fared vs Wolves

(Photo by Zohaib Alam/MUFC)

Tonight, the former Arsenal academy star enjoyed a much more assured showing at the back alongside Luke Shaw and Noussair Mazraoui.

In his 69 minutes on the pitch before he was replaced by Yoro, Heaven made seven clearances, three of which were headed, three recoveries and one block. He won 100 per cent of his aerial duels attempted (4/4) and 100 per cent of his ground duels (2/2), as per Fotmob.

He also did his bit further afield to try and aid his teammates on the attack by making one final-third pass and one accurate long ball.

Alas, it’s safe to say the 19-year-old will be looking to build on his steady display at the earliest opportunity, which will be in next Monday’s meeting with Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

Ayden Heaven completed every pass (36/36), won every ground duel (2/2) and won every aerial duel (4/4) that he contested against Wolves. Great to see him back in the side. 👊
– Montag, 8. Dezember 2025

What Amorim had to say about Heaven

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

It remains to be seen whether he will retain his place, but one thing’s for sure: Amorim is more than satisfied with what he saw tonight.

“Ayden has a great future,” said Amorim of Heaven, as relayed by Laurie Whitwell. “He’s really hard to beat. He adapts really well in the centre. We have Mattha [Matthijs de Ligt] + Harry [Maguire] with problems. Of course, he needs more rhythm to play 90 minutes. I think he did really well + I really enjoyed seeing him with the ball.”