Manchester United's Ayden Heaven is currently one of the most promising young talents at the club, having seen a swift rise since his transfer from Arsenal earlier this year.

The youngster had stints at both West Ham and Arsenal's youth academies before making the move to United for a nominal fee in February. Upon joining, Heaven inked a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Red Devils and was immediately integrated into the first-team squad.

Since his arrival, the 19-year-old has made 11 appearances for United, notching up one assist in the Premier League victory over Brighton in October. Heaven has started two Premier League matches under Ruben Amorim this season, including the recent 4-1 triumph over Wolves, where he lined up in a back three alongside Luke Shaw and Noussair Mazraoui.

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Heaven is the second highly-rated youngster to make the move from Arsenal to United within four-month time frame, with forward Chido Obi-Martin also making the switch, albeit to United's academy, toward the end of 2024. However, there was a clear reason why Arsenal were willing to let go of such a promising prospect, and it boils down to another rising star in their academy.

As per the Daily Mail, Arsenal's 16-year-old defender Marli Salmon has drawn comparisons to current first-team standout William Saliba. The north London outfit believe he is their next big talent after Max Dowman, and that he has a clear route to the senior squad, reports the Manchester Evening News.

During the midweek Champions League victory over Club Brugge, Salmon was brought on from the bench as Mikel Arteta faced a shortage of defensive options amid a mounting injury crisis. The report highlights that Heaven's switch to United was internally accepted at the Emirates due to the strong faith they have in Salmon's abilities.

United, naturally, are now reaping the rewards of that confidence, having snapped up the highly-rated Heaven. The youngster is already winning Amorim's trust in crucial Premier League fixtures.

Following the Wolves victory, having appeared in consecutive league matches, Heaven reflected post-match: "There's so many great defenders at this club that he's trusting you to be at the middle of that defence.

"He [Amorim] is trusting me a lot. I feel like I'm working hard every day in training and I'm showing he can trust me in the games that I'm playing.

"I thought I was a good player but I knew that I first had to gain the trust of the manager and slowly I know I'm doing that. I feel like I'm doing well at the moment, but I've just got to keep working."

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