Toby Collyer was once hailed ‘the best in the country’, he now has a chance to prove it at Man Utd

Add as preferred source on Google

Toby Collyer has been a shining light in Manchester United’s pre-season preparations.

With many first-team players yet to return to training this summer, Erik ten Hag took a youthful squad – first to Norway – and then on tour of the United States.

The Red Devils opened their pre-season schedule with matches against Rosenborg and Rangers before flying Stateside to face Arsenal.

Toby Collyer has been trusted by Ten Hag to play in all three of United’s warm-up games so far and the 20-year-old has taken the opportunity with both hands.

The primary purpose of pre-season may be to build up fitness and prepare for the upcoming campaign, but for younger players it is their best opportunity to draw attention and claw their way into the first team.

That is certainly the blueprint that saw Kobbie Mainoo catapult himself into Ten Hag’s plans – the 19-year-old was a standout performer in last summer’s tour before suffering an ankle injury.

Toby Collyer is the star of pre-season

After impressing in the second half of the Rosenborg clash, Collyer has been thrown into the starting lineup by Ten Hag and his new-look coaching staff for the games against Rangers and Arsenal.

Not only has Collyer been able to mix it with the first-team players, but he has also been one of the best players on the pitch in both matches.

READ MORE: Who is Toby Collyer? Meet the Manchester United starlet who Erik ten Hag already loves

There is no hiding the fact that United are in the market for a new defensive midfielder this summer with talks continuing with Paris Saint-Germain for Manuel Ugarte.

But Collyer is staking a claim for a midfield spot in Ten Hag’s squad and the Dutchman has already shown that he is willing to put his faith in academy prospects.

Toby Collyer is starting to live up to the hype

Collyer’s impressive performances in pre-season perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise given what has previously been said about him by a former coach.

He joined United from Brighton in 2022 in what turned out to be Ralf Rangnick’s first signing during his interim stint as manager.

Collyer’s Under-18s coach at Brighton, Mark Beard, piled huge praise onto the young midfielder during his time on the south coast.

In 2022, he told Sussex Live “You could see he was going to be a top-class player. He is a pleasure to coach. He is so low maintenance, what I mean by that is you don’t know he is there.

READ MORE: Toby Collyer enjoying playing alongside ‘one of the best ever’ Manchester United teammates

“He gets on with his job. He regularly put in displays of 8/10 at the least. He had the best running stats, runs 13 kilometres a game, breaks things up. He is so unassuming, he gets on with his job. You want 11 of these type of players in the team. You know what you’re going to get in training, he works hard, he wants to improve, he’s intelligent. He’s a good all-round kid.”

Beard also praised Collyer’s defensive work, “He plays like two men sometimes. As defensive midfielders go, and it is quite a disciplined role, he is probably the best in the country at doing it.”