TEN HAG HUGELY IMPRESSED BY RISING MAN UTD STAR WHO’S SECOND ONLY TO BRUNO FERNANDES IN KEY STATS

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is a big fan of starlet Toby Collyer, according to a report, with the midfielder set for a breakout campaign at Old Trafford.

Collyer was born in Worthing, West Sussex and first joined Brighton’s academy at U12 level. He rose through the ranks and eventually made Brighton’s U18 team – while also playing for England U17s – before Man Utd snapped him up.

Collyer and Brighton had failed to reach an agreement over fresh terms, and this allowed Man Utd to swoop in and sign him on a three-and-a-half-year deal in March 2022.

The defensive midfielder, who can also play as a traditional No 8 or in central defence, soon impressed for Man Utd U21s and this saw him travel with Ten Hag’s senior squad for the recent pre-season tour of the US.

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Collyer made his first-team debut for Man Utd during the Community Shield loss to Manchester City. He notably replaced Casemiro at half time during Man Utd’s poor 3-0 defeat to Liverpool after the Brazilian had a wretched 45 minutes.

The Manchester Evening News have now provided some insight behind Collyer’s impressive rise and his emergence into the senior squad.

They state that Ten Hag ‘really likes’ Collyer, having been very impressed by the 20-year-old’s impact in pre-season.

Collyer tried immensely hard, despite training against a number of world-renowned stars, and was second in the club’s running stats, behind captain Bruno Fernandes only.

Man Utd latest: Toby Collyer wins Ten Hag over

The youngster will be hoping to pick up a decent amount of game time with Casemiro seemingly on the decline. Manuel Ugarte has arrived at Old Trafford to replace Casemiro, but Collyer is still likely to be given plenty of opportunities to impress.

Of course, it is important to note that Ten Hag himself is under increasing pressure as manager, and his departure could impact Collyer’s game time.

But if the Dutchman turns things around and manages to stay in charge, then Collyer can expect his stock to rise at Man Utd.

Travis Binnion, who coaches Man Utd U21s, heaped praise on the midfield enforcer recently. “If Toby had a clean 18 months and a clean two-and-a-half years with us, we would be talking about a really top young player,” he said.

“We’re talking about a really good young player with high potential. He joined us from another club [Brighton] and took a little while to get going. He couldn’t play in the FA Youth Cup run, so he was here but couldn’t play. He’s also had a couple of injuries and nothing terrible.

“But when you have a spell out of the game and have a couple of injuries that stop you playing, it takes a while to get going, but when we signed him, we had no doubts about what he was capable of – he’s a fantastic athlete and effective without the ball.

“Toby is also making great strides with the ball, so we’re talking there about someone who can be really effective in all moments of the game and I think that’s what you saw on tour.

“That’s why the manager has involved him in numerous squads. I think he’s earned the trust of the manager and that’s not easy to do, so great credit to him, he’s a fantastic lad.

“He’s got a superb attitude and he’s getting what he deserves. We just know the manager really likes him and the conversations I have with Fletch [Darren Fletcher] are along those lines and we talk about what’s right for his development, so what’s next and what does he need to do?”

2024-09-07T15:41:06Z dg43tfdfdgfd