I told Erik ten Hag’s latest talent to reject offers from two Premier League clubs to join Manchester United

Manchester United are one of the very best clubs around at bringing youth talent through into the first-team.

The statistics are there for all to see. Since October 1937, an academy graduate has been in every United matchday squad.

Examples such as Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho also show that under Erik ten Hag, these young players are making a significant impact on the team rather than just being in and around the squad.

The Reds have an exciting pool of talent ready to come through into the first team in the coming years. The Under-18s squad won the Treble last term.

But the player who looks set to become Ten Hag’s next big talent is Toby Collyer, who has gone under the radar in the academy since joining in 2022.

Collyer made his Premier League debut against Liverpool and is expected to have a role to play for Ten Hag’s side going forward this season.

While there are more technical and exciting players around, Collyer does things on the pitch that often go unnoticed, and that’s exactly what his former Brighton youth coach, Mark Beard, thinks.

Beard told the Manchester Evening News: “I had such a good team at Brighton with Evan Ferguson and players like that, and everyone would say Evan was unbelievable, but he’d touch the ball ten times, score a goal and run about 8km.

“Toby would run around 13km every single game, he’d have 200 touches of the ball and have the best defensive duel win-rate. His stats would be astronomical, honestly, absolutely ridiculous.

“You really don’t get that with many players. He’d be under the radar, but those are the players you want in your team more than anyone else because they’re a dying breed.”

United have been without that energy and bite in the midfield in recent years, and while Kobbie Mainoo has shown to be an extraordinary talent, he cannot do all of the jobs expected in a midfield setup.

“You need balance in a team and if you had three Kobbie Mainoos, you can’t play them all. You need a combination, and Toby will do stuff Mainoo won’t,” added Beard.

“He will break the play up and get the ball to Mainoo, so I think Man United have missed a player like this for quite a while.

“He’s young and you can’t put too much pressure on him, but he can be a big player eventually because he does that horrible defensive side of the game that not a lot of midfielders who are brought up through the academy system at clubs want to do anymore.”

It is easy to forget that Collyer was one of the most highly rated youngsters when United managed to sign him from Brighton two years ago. He captained England at youth level and had important attributes that translate well to a first-team environment.

With attention coming from multiple big Premier League clubs, Collyer asked Beard for advice about his next move, and the coach told him that Old Trafford was the right place to go.

“Everyone wanted to sign him and he didn’t deserve the treatment he got at Brighton in the end. I told Toby you’ve got to sign for United when he asked for advice,” added Beard.

“I said Chelsea won’t give you a chance because they’ve got 700 players and Tottenham aren’t known for bringing kids through. I said United was the place for him and it wasn’t just me who said it, there were a few others who gave him that advice and he’s done amazing.”

Collyer could have more chances for Ten Hag’s side as the season properly gets underway after the international break, with two games a week coming thick and fast.

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