Toby Collyer won over the respect of Manchester United fans with his brave cameo in their win over Arsenal in the FA Cup third round. Despite coming on as a substitute late into the second half, the 21-year-old midfielder fought hard to win battles in midfield, cover a lot of ground and help the 10-man Red Devils oust the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.
The 5’11 midfielder might not be the most physically imposing of players, but his sheer hard-working ability and aggression on the pitch has earned him a place in the first-team squad under Ruben Amorim. Collyer, contrary to some belief, is not a Mancunian and was actually born in Worthing (West Sussex) on 3 January, 2004.
The Englishman came up from a hard-working family and did his schooling at the Angmering School in West Sussex. The school’s assistant teacher Ian Gooding has been all praise for his attitude and personality, revealing: “He was the epitome of hard work and whether it was football or his studies, he always wanted to improve. Despite being shy in his younger years, [he] was not afraid of asking others for guidance when he felt they could impact him.”
Collyer aspired to be a footballer from a very young age and joined the Brighton & Hove Albion youth academy at the under-12 level. The midfielder started excelling under the impressive coaching at Brighton, making the debut for their under-18 team at the age of 15.
He even helped them win the Premier League under-17s cup in the 2020-21 season and made 28 appearances for them.In 2021, he made his debut for Brighton’s under-23 team at the age of 17 and his rapid progress through the youth scene started attracting him serious attention.
Mark Beard, who coached Collyer during his time at Brighton’s youth scene, spoke about his personality and attitude in his teenage years, stating: “You wanted 11 Toby Collyers in your team because he’d work his socks off, run 13km a game and he took everything on board like a sponge. There were obviously a few things as he got older that we needed to work on and as he shot up a bit and he needed to redevelop.
“You don’t get midfielders like him anymore, he was sort of like a Kante for Leicester, the holding mids who just sit there. You don’t notice them and they let the flair players do their bit.
“He breaks play up well, he’s good defensively, strong, quick, his fitness levels are different class and his passing range is really good, which is what we worked on. Because he’s such a good passer, we wanted him to use it more, switch the play, and that will come with confidence and more experience. 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.”
Ultimately, Manchester United’s scouts were convinced that Collyer is one worth investing on and the Red Devils worked hard to sign him in 2022. He joined them ahead of the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City, spending his first few years playing for their under-21 side. Collyer signed a very generous £260,000-a-year contract and earns around £5,000-a-week at Old Trafford, being the lowest-paid senior team player.
The 21-year-old is naturally a defensive midfielder, who can also operate as a no.8 and has also played as a makeshift centre-back in his career. Injuries issues since he joined United from Brighton in 2022 have restricted him to only 30 appearances for their under-21 side, but that didn’t stop him from impressing the Red Devils u-21 manage Travis Binnion.
He told the Manchester Evening News: “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?”
Collyer was actually called up to the Manchester United senior squad by Erik ten Hag at the beginning of the 2024/25 season. His first-team debut came in the Community Shield final, where the Red Devils lost to Manchester City, and he’s made four appearances so far this season.
It’s because he’s not played that much that Collyer has a meagre 59 overall rating in FC 25. His strongest trait is pace (65) and the balance trait (78) is his highest-rated one. Collyer’s potential is 75, but his in-game rating doesn’t translate to how high he can climb in real life.
Called ‘Brilliant’ by Manchester United legend David May, the 21-year-old midfielder has shown that he has the hunger and personality to be a long-term success at Old Trafford as long as he can consistently keep churning out tenacious performances like he did against Arsenal.
