West Brom set to beat Sheffield Wednesday to Man Utd transfer deal | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion are set to beat a number of Championship rivals to the season-long loan signing of Manchester United prospect Toby Collyer

West Bromwich Albion have beaten off competition from a number of Championship rivals to the signing of Manchester United midfielder Toby Collyer, who is now set to move to the Hawthorns on a season-long loan deal.

As reported by The Athletic on Thursday morning, the 21-year-old is in "advanced talks" to join Ryan Mason's side for the 2025/26 Championship campaign after garnering strong second-tier interest in recent times.

Collyer has also been linked to the likes of Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday this summer, having enjoyed something of a breakthrough into Man United's first-team last season.

The highly-rated midfielder, who first joined the Red Devils from Brighton and Hove Albion's academy in 2022, made 13 appearances across all competitions for Ruben Amorim's outfit in 2024/25, featuring on six occasions in the Premier League and racking up four UEFA Europa League outings throughout United's run to the final against Tottenham Hotspur.

However, a loan move was mooted in order for Collyer, who is also an England youth international, to gain consistent minutes at senior level, and West Brom appear to have won the race for his services.

West Brom set to beat Sheffield Wednesday and others to Man Utd's Toby Collyer

According to The Athletic, the structure of the deal for Collyer to move to the West Midlands has been agreed and West Brom believe that the prospect can support their bid to gain promotion to the Premier League after missing out on a second successive top-six finish last season.

It's said that Collyer himself has "chosen" West Brom over other clubs, with the Baggies' promotion ambitions and the opportunity to work under a progressive and promising head coach in Ryan Mason likely to have been factors behind the United midfielder's decision.

This will, of course, come as something of a blow to the likes of Hull and Wednesday, who were both among a "host" of Championship clubs interested in acquiring Collyer.

The Baggies have fended off no shortage of competition for Collyer, and he appears imminently set to become the club's latest signing this summer after George Campbell, Aune Heggebo and Nat Phillips.

And, as exclusively revealed by Football League World earlier this morning, West Brom are also closing in on the capture of Birmingham City defender Krystian Bielik amid Torbjorn Heggem's impending £10m switch to Serie A side Bologna.

Where Man United's Toby Collyer will fit in under Ryan Mason at West Brom

The addition of Collyer will surely be a welcome one at West Brom, who find themselves somewhat short-staffed in the middle of the park at this moment in time.

With 21-year-old starlet Isaac Price featuring in a more advanced role under Mason, the former Spurs coach can only call upon Ousmane Diakite, Jason Molumby and Alex Mowatt as central midfield options right now.

This means that regular minutes are on offer to Collyer, should he translate the promise he displayed at Old Trafford last term to the Championship.

He'll have some work to do if he's to displace two experienced second-tier operators in Molumby and Mowatt, of course, but neither club would be giving this deal the green-light if Collyer wasn't capable of forcing his way into Mason's plans.