Ayden Heaven will not leave England for Ghana and intends to continue his international career serving the three lionsthus ruling out the possibility of representing the African team at the next World Cup.
Born in London, the 19-year-old is eligible to play for Ghana through one of his grandparents and has been closely monitored by the Ghanaian federation, which was seeking to convince him to change his sporting nationality. However, sources close to the process have assured the BBC that Heaven is determined to represent England at the highest level.
The decision takes on special importance considering that Ghana was drawn in the same group as England, Croatia and Panama for the 2026 World Cup, to be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Ayden Heaven has a career in the English youth teams and has represented the country at various levels. At club level, the young defender moved from Arsenal to Manchester United in February, after making just one appearance for the club’s first team. gunners. At Old Trafford, he began by making two appearances from the bench in the Premier League, before making his debut as a starter on December 4, against West Ham, at the center of a three-man defence. The defender was among United’s starting options in the next four games.
He stood out in the 1-2 defeat against Aston Villa, on December 21st, and was named man of the match in the 1-0 victory over Newcastle, last Friday, a match in which Manchester United recorded only their second game without conceding a goal this season. Ruben Amorim did not hide his satisfaction with the player’s growth: «I am very satisfied with Ayden. You can feel that he is improving with each game. He is young, but you can see that he has a good understanding of the game, thinks better, makes decisions calmer and grows during the match.”
“He trained very well and, if he continues to play like this, it will be very difficult to remove him from his place,” he added.
