“I can be honest” – Amorim makes Ayden Heaven admission as Man United youngsters learn their fates | OneFootball

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim revealed the main reason that prompted him to elevate Ayden Heaven to the senior squad, while discussing the chances of other youngsters to gain first-team football.

The 18-year-old defender was poached from Arsenal in January, but he was expected to sharpen his skills with the club’s U21 squad before joining the seniors.

Nevertheless, the teenager burned the stages by earning his debut with the first team in February. Heaven briefly cemented himself as a regular feature in the starting lineup thanks to his convincing displays.

However, the centre-back’s meteoric rise was interrupted by a knee injury he suffered during last month’s victory over Leicester City.

Nevertheless, Amorim admitted that Heaven was unlikely to gain swift access to the first team if it wasn’t for an injury crisis at the back.

“Ayden has been playing,  and I can be honest, because we had a lot of injuries at that moment,” said the 40-year-old in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s clash against Wolves.

“But today, I think of Ayden as my player. So when he’s ready, he’s facing competition in the team and he’s ready to play, so you don’t know.”

Ruben Amorim explains the promotion of Ayden Heaven

(Getty Images)

Amorim was referring to a time when Harry Maguire, Leny Yoro, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans were all unavailable, in addition to Lisandro Martinez, who could be out until 2026 with an ACL injury.

The manager discussed Heaven’s situation when asked if he’s planning to deploy more youngsters in the Premier League to give the senior players some breathing room ahead of the Europa League semi-final double header against Athletic Bilbao.

Nevertheless, the Portuguese was coy in his answer, suggesting this might not be the ideal time to introduce new faces, albeit he didn’t completely rule out this scenario.

“Amass did really well today (against Lyon), so we don’t know. Chido, when he played, he played quite well.

“It’s a difficult moment, it’s not the right moment for the kids to play, but if we have to do it, we will do it. Will Obi get more minutes? Yes, I think so. Yes.”