Emile Heskey's two sons now play together in the Man City academy | OneFootball

Highlights

Alongside Nicklas Bendtner, Emile Heskey will be remembered by fans of a certain generation as being one of the first social media memes within the world of football. But that's not quite a fair reflection of what he achieved within the sport.

After all, the English striker played 62 times for his country, while he also won major trophies at Liverpool – such as the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, and League Cup (twice) – as well as two more League Cups with Leicester City. For a number of years, he was a reliable Premier League striker and finished his career having scored over 100 goals in that competition, 110 in 516 appearances to be precise.

He retired in 2016 after a one-and-a-half-season spell with Bolton Wanderers and the 45-year-old now works as head of football development of Leicester City Women. However, despite his playing days now being a thing of the past, it seems as though we could be hearing the Heskey name on our television screens once more in the years to come.

Indeed, the former Liverpool star has two sons who currently play in the Manchester City academy. What's more, they recently took to the pitch together for the club's academy at the under-19 level in the UEFA Youth League coming up against the young boys of BSC Young Boys.

Who is Reigan Heskey?

The youngest of the two is Reigan who is just 15 years of age. This was actually his debut in the competition and his first-ever appearance at any level above under-18s, as per the Manchester Evening News. Reigan marked the occasion with a goal too, as he won an early penalty, and then stepped up to take the spot kick, dispatching it into the bottom corner.

Wearing the number 11 shirt and playing up front just like his father, it was an impressive debut for the teenager as he delivered the goods in the 3-0 win against Young Boys. Not only did he get his name on the scoresheet, but he also played his part in the other two goals. Indeed, he won a freekick which fellow youngster Mahamadou Susoho scored from, and then shortly before a cross came in for City to score a third, he linked up with a teammate, playing a clever one-two.

After suffering from cramp, the 15-year-old actually came off at half-time. Despite his early exit, his efforts were more than enough to seal the win, especially as his team were up 3-0 by the time he came off. You can see footage of his well-taken penalty below.

Who is Jaden Heskey?

Jaden is actually the captain of the under-18s at Man City, and he got his chance to impress at a slightly higher level this week as he started alongside his brother in this UEFA Youth League match. Like his two family members, the 17-year-old can play up top but is capable of playing anywhere across the front line.

He joined the club's academy when he was just eight years old and picked up a scholarship in July 2022. Jaden has repaid some of that faith this season, having bagged five goals as well as an assist in 12 outings across all competitions so far. This also includes appearances in the U18 Premier League, Premier League 2 and EFL Trophy.

As you can see in the footage above, Jaden was first to congratulate his younger brother on the penalty he scored and the older sibling was obviously proud of Reigan's efforts on debut, explaining how excited he was when he found out he would be playing alongside his younger brother in Europe this week. He told the Man City media team:

Just like the senior Manchester City team, the U19s are unbeaten in the group so far. They've won three and drawn one of their four games up to this point – dropping points away at RB Leipzig – and so look set to reach the UEFA Youth League knockout stages. It will certainly be interesting to see how the Heskey brothers develop in the City academy over the next few years. If they can both keep shining in this competition, perhaps they'll get a shot at senior action before too long.