Joshua Zirkzee has delivered a glowing review of former Arsenal defender Ayden Heaven following an impressive first start for Manchester United. Heaven, 18, who left the Gunners to join United in the January transfer window, made his senior debut for Ruben Amorim's side against Fulham earlier this month.
He played 45 minutes during United's 1-1 draw with Arsenal last Sunday and was thrown into the starting XI against Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday. Heaven played on the left-side of a back three alongside Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, and produced an excellent performance.
The teenager has since been inundated with praise and Zirkzee has lauded his United teammate, posting a one-word message on social media. In an Instagram story, Zirkzee said: "Serious!!!!"
Zirkzee is clearly a huge admirer of Heaven and so is United head coach Ruben Amorim, who hailed the defender in his press conference ahead of their trip to Leicester City on Sunday.
"If he continues like that he is going to play," Amorim said of Heaven. "He is young but I really like his confidence. I like his pace and he is good in defending the box.
"I think he is quite complete but he has a lot of work to do - and in the Premier League he will be tested in a different way [each week]. We are trying to manage all this because he is still really young."
Heaven moved to Arsenal in 2020, aged 14, and progressed through the academy system before training with the first-team last season. He was heavily involved with the Gunners during the 2024 summer pre-season and was one of three youngsters, along with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, praised by Mikel Arteta in August.
The following month, Heaven was included on the bench against Tottenham in the Premier League. He made his debut in the Carabao Cup at Preston on Wednesday, October 30. That proved to be Heaven's first and only appearance for the Gunners before his departure was confirmed.