Man United U21s boss Travis Binnion opens up on massive career strides made by Toby Collyer, Ethan Wheatley and Harry Amass | OneFootball

Manchester United U21s boss Travis Binnion has had his say on the rise of Ethan Wheatley, Harry Amass and Toby Collyer as he revealed what the three need to do to fully break through into Erik ten Hag’s plans.

Over the last few weeks, Wheatley, Amass and Collyer have all seen their prominence and status within the club significantly improve.

They enjoyed a lot of minutes during pre-season, with Ten Hag affording them opportunities to show what they can do while playing alongside more experienced and seasoned stars.

The trio was included in United’s USA pre-season tour squad and played a key role in matches against Arsenal, Real Betis and Liverpool. They were subsequently promoted to United’s first-team group.

Collyer in particular seems to have caught Ten Hag’s eye, with the midfielder named in the Dutchman’s matchday squads vs. Manchester City in the Community Shield and more recently, the Premier League opener vs. Fulham last Friday.

Binnion spoke to The Manchester Evening News and said, “Over the last year, those two players you mentioned, Amass and Wheatley, have progressed a lot, a hell of a lot. Ethan Wheatley in particular has turned into a real eye-catching centre forward and his profile is one that managers like because he’s lean, quick and tall.”

“If you drew a No.9, you’d draw him looking like Ethan, but his game has come on leaps and bounds, so knowing where to run and his link-up play has improved, and being in better positions. He’s spent around 12 to 13 weeks consistently training with the first-team, just like Harry, and I think within that environment, particularly when you’re having to play like they did in pre-season, you’re able to learn quicker. The good players always do in that situation.”

“Equally, if you find it hard in that environment, it can be an unforgiving place to be because the level is possibly too high if you’re struggling. You find out a lot about yourself in terms of your game, but you also find out a lot about yourself as a person and as a professional as well.”

He added on Amass, “Harry’s very good on the ball, he can defend well, but he knows a big part of his game is wider defending to ensure he deals with movement and defending space in behind. His game in possession is in a really good place and he’s physically capable, but he knows that he’s got to keep working, as most full-backs have, in their defensive moments.”

Last month, Collyer put pen to paper on a new contract to extend his stay with the club until 2027.

As pointed out by MEN, Ten Hag insisted on attending the youngster’s signing ceremony. After United’s FA Cup triumph over Manchester City last term, the United boss was spotted deep in conversation with Collyer – almost in a similar fashion as his small chat with Kobbie Mainoo.

Binnion told MEN about Collyer, “If Toby had a clean 18 months and a clean two and a half years with us, we would be talking about a really top young player. We’re talking about a really good young player with high potential. He joined us from another club and took a little while to get going.”

“He couldn’t play in the FA Youth Cup run, so he was here but couldn’t play. He’s also had a couple of injuries and nothing terrible, but when you have a spell out of the game and have a couple of injuries that stop you playing, it takes a while to get going, but when we signed him, we had no doubts about what he was capable of – he’s a fantastic athlete and effective without the ball.”

“Toby is also making great strides with the ball, so we’re talking there about someone who can be really effective in all moments of the game and I think that’s what you saw on tour. That’s why the manager has involved him in numerous squads. I think he’s earned the trust of the manager and that’s not easy to do, so great credit to him, he’s a fantastic lad.”

“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?”

According to Binnion, the main challenge for Wheatley, Amass and Collyer is to follow in the footsteps of Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, who all successfully forced their way into Ten Hag’s set-up to become almost undroppable starters.

“The challenge for those boys is to become Kobbie, [Alejandro] Garnacho, or Omari Forson, who has left the club now but he was around a lot of matchday squads and featured more than once.”

Binnion insisted that the four stages Wheatley, Amass and Collyer should be seeking to follow are: train with the first team, look to be included in multiple matchday squads, make multiple appearances in competitive matches and finally, become established starters in the team.

The U21s gaffer relayed that there’s no better club in the country for young players to realise their ambitions and showcase their talent.

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