Man City's Jaden Heskey - "My dad's been through everything, but it adds a bit of pressure"
24.12.2023 - 07:55
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
There was a touching moment last month where the father of a Manchester City player couldn't hide his pride at his son's first under-19 goal for the club on his debut at any level above under-16.
The winger had earned his City call-up when he was at school the previous day, and what made his start against Young Boys even more special was that he was sharing the attack with his older brother, two years above him. Naturally, his parents in the stand were there to see the brothers' first game playing alongside each other, and the dad took his phone out to record his younger son's successful penalty.
On its own, that is a nice story. However, when the dad is former England striker Emile Heskey, it is bound to earn some extra attention - and it did. That day, 15-year-old winger Reigan Heskey scored from the spot, with Jaden putting in a solid performance in a season when he has been flying in attack for the academy. This week, MEN Sport got the lowdown from Jaden on a whirlwind few months, and living up to the Heskey surname, and why there aren't many comparisons with his dad.
ALSO READ: Called-up from school and Emile's advice - Inside Jaden and Reigan Heskey's 'surreal' Man City U19s debut together
When your father is an England international with 62 caps, who boasted a career of over 600 games, it's possibly no surprise that Jaden and Reigan are following in his footsteps to become footballers. But forward Jaden insists he is anything but a carbon copy of his father.
"Obviously I'm a bit smaller than him. He's 6 foot 2, a big striker. I'm 5"10," he explains. "Playing at striker, the hold-up play is similar, even though I'm smaller, I can bring players into the game similar to him. He appreciates how I play but there's