Jaden Heskey: What my dad did was incredible but I want to make own name

Coming through the ranks at a Premier League football club isn’t easy. 

In their adolescent years, youth-team players face the sorts of challenges and pressures that could overwhelm fully grown adults - and it’s well documented just how few actually make it to the end of the rainbow.

But that sense of expectation has always been amplified with Jaden Heskey. You know why, we don’t have to explain it. 

Being the son of a former England international doesn’t help navigate that treacherous path. “I've got used to it,” the engaging 18-year-old told Manchester World in a recent interview. “It's normal.”

Before Heskey’s senior career has even begun, he has already achieved something his famous father never managed. Emile might have won the FA Cup and League Cup, earned 62 England caps and scored 100+ Premier League goals, but he never won the FA Youth Cup during his distinguished career

“That's the one I've got over him,” laughed Jaden, four months on from scoring in the 4-0 win over Leeds United that saw City secure their fourth triumph in the competition’s history.

“I feel like we can look back and be proud. We will go down in history as one of the winners,” he continued. “Scoring was one of the best feelings I've had so far in my career. It’s an historic competition. You get remembered a bit more and it's something to be proud of.

“I look back fondly but it's a new season now. Looking forward now and want to end this season on a high.”

There certainly is no resting on his laurels and the new season has started well for Heskey, now a full-fledged member of the Under-21 side after flitting between age groups last term and often captaining the Under-18s. Ben Wilkinson’s youngsters have won seven in a row in the Premier League 2, with Heskey starting every single game. He’s also been a regular in the EFL Trophy and the Uefa Youth League.

“I enjoy that [mixture]. It's tough,” the youngster said. “The EFL Trophy is against first teams. It's tough, you play a league game on Saturday and [the EFL Trophy] on the Tuesday. It's like playing real football. Testing your body physically to see how you can cope against League Two, League One opposition.

“I was with the 18s last season going up and down,” he added. “I feel like with Ben we've had him with the 18s for a few years. We know what he expects from us. The intensity in training, we tried to make sure it's high every day. When it comes to a game we're ready. That's gone up from the under 18s.”

It goes up further when Heskey joins Pep Guardiola’s senior squad. He’s been called up on several occasions over the last year, including ahead of the Slovan Bratislava game at the start of October.

He’s used to rubbing shoulders with football’s elite now, and Heskey was one of several youth-team players selected in the squad for the pre-season tour of America. He admits it’s something he’ll never forget, and despite spending two and a half weeks with the team over the summer, the novelty of witnessing the very best up close and personal hasn’t worn off yet. 

“Seeing [Erling] Haaland's finishing in person every day, it was ridiculous. I learned a lot from all of them. Being around them the whole time, you see how professional they are, how they train every day.

“It was just crazy to feel like a first-team player for that trip. Being in New York, even the other places, getting off the bus and everyone was screaming. It was mainly for Haaland obviously.”

The cherry on top of the cake was a senior debut -  a friendly against Barcelona, nonetheless. “That was amazing, surreal. There were a lot of players I look up to - for us and them for Barcelona there was [Robert] Lewandowski playing and Thiago Alcantara was a coach for them. It was a crazy experience.

“He [Guardiola] didn't say much before I came on. He just called me, I was sat on the bench and didn't expect it. He told me to get ready and I was running up and down with my heart pounding. He called me over, told me to go on as striker and hold the play up. “

Heskey holding up the play isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, but the precocious City star - who is rapidly blossoming into serious talent - is a very different proposition from his dad. For a start, Jaden has tended to operate more in midfield this season but can also play up front.

He’s quicker, nimbler and perhaps already more technically astute. In reality, most now coming through the youth systems of Premier League clubs rely less on their physical attributes than the youth products of the 1990s. Not that dad can’t still offer a few tips here and there.

“If he sees us doing something he can put advice on, he will. When I was playing striker, he had tips for where to be in the box and that helped. But he normally leaves us to it, doesn't put too much pressure. He tells us to work hard, make sure we apply ourselves in training and games.”

‘Us’ refers to not just one juvenile Heskey, but two. It’s very much a family affair, with Jaden’s younger brother Reigan also making strides in City’s youth team. Just last week, he scored a second-half hat-trick after coming off the bench in an Under-21s win over Norwich City, playing alongside his elder brother.

Both will know all too well of the pressure that comes with the name Heskey adorning their shirts. The boys have grown up in that football bubble, their lives shaped and influenced by the beautiful game. 

Jaden can remember being in the tunnel at Aston Villa watching in awe as Ashley Young and James Milner lined up alongside his dad. “That’s when I found my love for football.” Now it’s a real possibility that he could line up against either of those experienced pros over the coming years.

As for the added expectation and scrutiny, the Heskeys have taken it all in their stride. “It's nice to get the connection there, the words people say about my dad. I want to make my own name for myself. My brother is doing it too, hopefully we can keep it going.

“It adds a bit more [pressure]. What my dad did was incredible with England and the clubs he was at. 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; we try not to let it affect us too much.”

So far, so good on that front - and there’s no point ending this article with a customary sign off telling you, the reader, to ‘remember the name’... you already know it.