Manchester United will begin their next leg of the pre-season tour with a game against Arsenal after traveling to the USA.
The first two games of the pre-season were played with a mostly barebones squad as most players hadn’t returned from their extended break after Copa America and Euros.
While that puts an asterisk over what learning can be made from the results of the two games, there were still some clear positives.
Toby Collyer was a big one, as he played 45 minutes in both games, captaining one, and generally being extremely reliable.
With both games in the background, Erik ten Hag has had a chance to reflect on the performance and he has arrived at a decision regarding Collyer’s future.
Erik ten Hag’s stance on Toby Collyer
It is no secret that Toby Collyer has already started fixing one of United’s biggest problems last season, as analysed earlier here.
However, his ability on the ball, especially his progressive passing, is yet to be tested, even more so against high calibre opposition.
Those questions should be answered to some extent when United face Liverpool, Arsenal, and Real Betis in the USA, a tour for which Collyer is nailed on to travel.
In the meantime, Ten Hag looks like he has already made his decision on the player after just two pre-season games.
Manchester World reports that Collyer is set to be given chances in the first-team over the coming season after being made unavailable for loan.
He will play U21 games as well but receive minutes for the senior team to establish himself as a genuine squad option.
Ten Hag has already sent a big message of endorsement for him when he was present at his contract signing, and his quest to find this season’s breakout man seems to have settled on Collyer.
A familiar path
It is worth noting that while the report states Collyer will still be playing for U21s primarily, that is the position Kobbie Mainoo also found himself in at the start of the last season.
Before that, Alejandro Garnacho’s rise was even more rapid, as he was playing for the U18s when he caught Ten Hag’s eye.
Garnacho skipped the U21s level altogether while Mainoo brushed past it only to recover some fitness after a pre-season injury.
Unlike that pair, Collyer is already 20 so this season and the chances he receives feel like it will make or break his long-term career at United.
So far, he has shown that he at least merits the minutes he is set to earn when competitive action resumes in August.
That is the easy part done, now to impress in those minutes. First up, three more friendlies but against higher-quality opposition.