German boss Ralf Rangnick did not enjoy the most productive stints in the Manchester United hotseat - particularly on the transfer front.
The current Austria manager was appointed as interim boss in November 2021 following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He was given just one transfer window before leaving Old Trafford and did not make a senior signing.
That does not mean that the recruitment team was not hard at work during Rangnick's time in charge, however. The Red Devils completed the signing of young midfielder Toby Collyer from Brighton last March, with the now 19-year-old putting pen to paper on a three-year deal.
Taking to Instagram after his Old Trafford switch was confirmed, he said: “Delighted to join this great club @manchesterunited can’t wait to get started!”
Having been on the Red Devils’ radar for some time, big things were expected of Collyer. Since then, he has appeared for United’s under-23’s side and in the EFL Trophy. The former Brighton star was also called up to first-team training ahead of the Red Devils’ Europa League playoff with Barcelona.
Collyer is yet to make his first-team debut just over a year after making a move to the north west, although that might not be too far away under Erik ten Hag. And former mentor Mark Beard has waxed lyrical about his abilities in the past.
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Speaking to Sussex Live, he said: "Even when he [Collyer] was an under-15 he trained with us [the under-18s] a lot. Even though he didn't play a great deal at under-16 he still trained. 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. 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."
Meanwhile, current Red Devils’ schemer Ten Hag has already laid down a challenge to a number of the most promising youngsters to make an impact on the first team sooner rather than later.
Speaking in October, he said: "There is a good development from the youngsters.
"They have to close the gap and they have to contribute to the squad and contribute to our results, but they have to deserve to be in the training and deserve the chance and the opportunities here at Old Trafford."
