Ayden Heaven: How Carrick should use Man United starlet this season | OneFootball

After a blistering start to the summer transfer window, Manchester United are beginning to stall in their efforts to overhaul Michael Carrick’s squad ahead of a return to the Champions League next season.

A £39 million deal was struck for Ederson at the beginning of the month, while a pursuit of Mateus Fernandes was launched after the club decided Nottingham Forest’s asking price for Elliot Anderson was exorbitant.

However, a deal for Fernandes has proven similarly difficult to agree as West Ham have stuck to their guns on their £85m valuation of the 21-year-old Portugal international. Without certainty on how much will be spent on the midfield rebuild, targets elsewhere on the pitch – such as a left-back or left winger – are difficult to progress.

But this should force United, spearheaded by sporting director Jason Wilcox and Carrick, to consider creative solutions from existing players to help fill the gaps the budget cannot stretch to in the market. And Ayden Heaven – the young centre-back signed from Arsenal for just £1.5m in 2025 – is the perfect candidate to do just that.

A Modern Defender

Possessing an imposing 6’2″ frame with good mobility and a wand of a left foot, Heaven fits the prototype of a modern defender, as capable of dominating transitions as he is playing out from the back.

Despite only turning 19 last season, the London native carries himself with a confidence which belies his age. If anything he is too assured, with Ruben Amorim describing him jokingly as “too relaxed” after an impressive cameo against his former side, Arsenal, at the Emirates.

The Gunners were understood to be disappointed to have lost Heaven to a rival, but there was internal recognition in North London that the pathway to the first team was a difficult one for a young centre-back.

However, there was also said to be a slight conflict over the youngster’s favoured position, having begun life at Hale End as a midfielder, before being converted to defence. This transition is evident in his quality in possession, with an excellent first touch and accurate pinpoint passing through the lines.

United are understood to be considering left-backs to provide competition to Luke Shaw, given Patrick Dorgu’s reinvention as a rampaging winger under Carrick. This would be a mistake, however, as Heaven can provide a suitable option without spending a penny, enabling the money saved to be invested towards a forward rather than a defender – a decision backed by rivals’ recent success.

Centre-Backs Out Wide

Over the past few years, Manchester City and Arsenal have been the best – and most consistent – sides in England, with Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta both mirroring each other’s tactical switch to centre-backs being used as full-backs. Having led the Gunners to their first Premier League title in 22 years, as well as a penalty shoot-out loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the Champions League, Arteta has developed a reputation for prioritising defence over attack.

Regardless of the merits of this critique, though it is undoubtedly valid, Arsenal are comfortably the best defensive side in Europe. At the heart of this is the Basque native’s choice to line up with a back four of centre-backs, with Jurrien Timber at right-back and either Riccardo Calafiori or Piero Hincapie at left-back.

But Guardiola opted for the same set-up to propel Manchester City to their first Champions League title in 2023, deploying Nathan Ake at left-back in the 1-0 win against Inter Milan. He then signed Croatian centre-back Joško Gvardiol from RB Leipzig, only to convert him into this position as well.

The template is there for a mobile centre-back with excellent technique to thrive out wide, particularly if the system is geared up to allow other players more freedom as a result. For example, if Heaven lined up at left-back alongside Lisandro Martinez – United’s best progressor of the ball from deep – as the centre-back, the 28-year-old Argentina international could step into midfield to bolster the engine room, while the young Englishman inverts to form a back three.

This 3-2-4-1 shape, which bears an uncomfortable resemblance to Amorim’s much-maligned system, was often used by Carrick at Middlesbrough. While United have played in a relatively conservative 4-2-3-1 shape under the 44-year-old coach thus far, there is a sense this was to protect Casemiro’s lack of mobility, which was often exposed by Amorim’s inflexible tactics.

If the Red Devils are to take the next step in progression under Carrick, Heaven is one cost-effective option to aid the process. Another important consideration is the aerial ability which has been lost with Casemiro’s departure. The 19-year-old defender would help restore this balance.

Furthermore, the addition of a new forward, preferably a versatile winger, would further transform United’s attack. It would bring more threat to the left-hand side of the pitch, while enabling Matheus Cunha to be utilised through the middle, as he has done to great effect with Brazil at the World Cup. Allowing Dorgu to remain stationed higher up the pitch, where he has scored three goals in three starts under Carrick as a winger, will also be beneficial.

Final Thoughts

Heaven is too good a talent not to be playing regularly, but Martinez’s inclusion is essential to United’s ability to dictate matches through possession. Shifting the youngster out wide, albeit mainly in theory, allows both to start, while freeing up other key members of the team to direct their focus in the final third.

Though it does not seem like an obvious choice to improve attacking output, Heaven offers a path towards a more cohesive and well-oiled system of ball progression, which will produce more chances and more goals.

Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images

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