Emile Heskey, father of Manchester City youngsters Jaden and Reigan Heskey
Emile Heskey, father of Manchester City youngsters Jaden and Reigan Heskey (Image: Joe Prior/Visionhaus)
“My youngest son has scored his first professional goal at 16 - I scored mine at 17, so he’s already beat me!”
Emile Heskey is keen not to be overbearing on the fledgling careers of his sons, Jaden and Reigan, but his pride in their progress within the Manchester City Elite Development Squad youth system is clear.
The brothers are separated by two years and a month but partnered together in the UEFA Youth League on Tuesday as the Under-19s showed the seniors how it’s done by thrashing Feyenoord 6-1.
Reigan, a winger, netted twice in the contest as Jaden led with the armband from central midfield. Jaden was on the pitch when he saw his sibling score that maiden pro goal in the EFL trophy tie against Grimsby Town in October.
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The pair will always have their father’s success attached to their name but the duo are being backed to make their own history. “It’s their career not mine,” dad Emile tells the Manchester Evening News.
“The thing is when they were younger, I was just guiding them in the sense of letting them enjoy it. Because playing football is about enjoyment.
“When I got into football, it was just about fun. You play with your mates and then you form friends within the academies that you're playing and you're just having fun.
“But then at some stage it becomes work and it becomes a job and you've got to be really, really disciplined. And the two boys have grown up in that.
“It's not my career, it's their career, but any help along the way, I'm there. I never really interfere because with all due respect, they are at a really good academy that is renowned and it's showing that it's producing players up and down the country.”
Jaden Heskey hugs brother Reigan while playing together for Manchester City under-21s. (Image: X/@ManCityAcademy)
The Heskey brothers can look to the likes of not only Phil Foden and Cole Palmer for inspiration of what can happen, but also players such as Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who scored his first international goal on debut for England this month.
Their father, of course, earned 67 caps for his country and scored seven times including in the last-16 of the 2002 World Cup against Denmark after netting in the famous 5-1 thrashing of Germany in Munich the year prior during qualifying.
“What my dad did was incredible with England and the clubs he was at,” Jaden told MEN Sport earlier this month. “There is some pressure, people will compare him to us.
“The main thing is to not try and listen to it. It's not under our control, try not to let it affect us too much."
Jaden, who turns 19 in December, has already caught the eye of Pep Guardiola, having been included in the pre-season squad that toured the USA this summer. His unofficial first-team debut came against none other than Barcelona.
Father Emile believes Jaden is ready for first-team football at some level, although indicated that this might be away from Man City and underlined he trusts the club to make that call.
“Whether it's City's first team, I’m not sure but he's definitely ready for a first-team. The good thing about Under-21s football is that he will be able to play in the EFL trophy.
“So they get to play against first-team players, to understand what it means to be a first-team player, the drive that the first-team players have, the intensity of first-team football. And he has coped with it reasonably well.
“So I think Jaden definitely has the ability to go and play first-team somewhere. I'm not sure whether it's Man City right now. But playing somewhere and getting some minutes and getting that first-team understanding.”
So would a January loan be a good next step? “Obviously that would be ideal, but that's obviously up to the club,” said Emile.
Jaden Heskey
Jaden Heskey (Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
“They have the procedures for them mapped out. Whether January is a little bit too soon for him, I don't know. I would like to think he's ready for first team football now, whether they believe it or not is another thing.”
Meanwhile, Reigan marked his first appearance for the Under-21s this season by netting a hat-trick and grabbing an assist against Norwich City in Premier League 2 at the start of November. By playing for the team, he is featuring four years above his starting age level.
He has meanwhile recorded eight goals and five assists in eight Under-18 Premier League matches to add to his UEFA Youth League brace. “Reigan has done really well,” said his dad. “This is his first season of full-time football, he's a first year scholar now.
"This is basically his first season of professional football so [is experiencing] what it looks like. Training every day, high intensity every day with games at the weekend, being prepared during the week as well, what does a two-game week look like.
“He’s taken to it really well. He’s scoring plenty of goals. He's playing entertaining football as well and at different levels. He’s done it at the 18s and 19s and now he's done it at 21s.
“Again, whether he's ready for first team football, we don't know. He's still young, he’s 16, still a young man. Until he gets thrown in that deep end, you never know.”
Emile has been using his talents from the sidelines having agreed to help as a coach at Macclesfield FC under manager Robbie Savage over the summer. Perhaps very soon, we will see a Heskey or two take to the senior pitch once again.
Emile Heskey was speaking to the Manchester Evening News courtesy of William Hill.