Table of Contents
- Man City are tracking academy star Jaden Heskey’s progress at Sheffield Wednesday
- The 20-year-old joined the Owls in January on loan till the end of the season
- They have been relegated from the Championship and will play in EFL League One next campaign.
Manchester City have delivered positive feedback to Sheffield Wednesday on their on-loan academy graduate Jaden Heskey’s development.
Following his youth career at Manchester City from 2013-25, Heskey made his senior debut for his boyhood club in a 2-0 away win over League One side Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup third round in September 2025.
Later in January, Heskey joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan for the remainder of the season to progress his development with regular first-team football in the EFL Championship.
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How has Jaden Heskey fared at Sheffield Wednesday?
Heskey made his debut for Sheffield Wednesday off the bench against Portsmouth on January 17, just a day after joining the Owls.
The 20-year-old made his first senior start in the following game against Birmingham City on January 21, playing the full 90 minutes.
The English midfielder has started in 18 out of 19 appearances he has made for the Owls so far.
What has Henrik Pedersen said about Heskey?
Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen believes that Heskey has “developed a lot” since his arrival in south Yorkshire.
“He has developed a lot. I think he’s tactical, so strong, together with his physical ability and his technical ability, that I think he’s a strong number six,” the Danish coach said on Heskey, as quoted by the Sheffield Star.
“Because his running capacity is strong, he’s technically good as a six. He’s started to be much better on the ball, to not only play sidewards, backwards.
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“He started to speed up the game in many more situations. He started to bypass many more opponents. And when he plays the 10th position, he has this verticality in his run.
“He has the power in his run and he’s a fantastic first-pressing player. And he has the advantage. He can run to space, but he can also receive in the pocket.”
Pedersen praised the Manchester City star’s versatility as a “big strength”. “And his way to be a part of something, when you do this, I have to do this, to see himself as a part of the game,” the Owls boss added.
“I think he’s strong. It’s a big advantage that he can play more positions and it’s a big strength that a young guy can change through the game from situation to situation and position to position.”
Man City keeping ‘close’ track of Heskey, says Pedersen
Pedersen revealed that Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester City have been in close contact about Heskey’s development – and that the clubs share a database for the eight-time Premier League champions to track their loanee’s progress.
“It has been very good, very positive. We are very close in contact,” Pedersen said. “We have a database together with Man City so they can see all the training he’s doing, all the analysis from the training, all his individual training.
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“They can see all the game feedback we’re giving him after each game, so then we can speak about his individual development week to week.
“So there is a close contact and there has to be a close contact. It’s good. Yeah, really good in this way, from Man City. Really good.”
The Owls rank last (24th) in the EFL Championship table with a minus three point tally and only one game remaining. They will compete in EFL League One next term after being relegated from the English second division this season.
With Sheffield Wednesday set for the third-tier of English football and the midfielder’s loan deal expiring in a month, it remains to be seen what is next for Manchester City’s Heskey.
