Manchester United midfielder Toby Collyer was recalled from his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion on New Year’s Day
Toby Collyer returned to Manchester United at the beginning of January after a frustrating loan spell at West Brom(Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic has admitted his side could sign Manchester United midfielder Toby Collyer in the January transfer window. Collyer joined West Bromwich Albion on loan in the summer but his time at The Hawthorns was plagued with injuries.
His last appearance for the Baggies came at the end of November against Birmingham City and on New Year’s Day, the Reds recalled him to continue his recovery at Carrington. MEN Sport understands Collyer is due to be fit before the end of January but the decision could be made to keep him at Old Trafford.
The plan under former manager Ruben Amorim was to monitor Collyer once he was up to speed to see if he could be utilised in the Premier League in the second half of the campaign. However, in his press conference on Friday, Jakirovic believes his team could sign him before the window shuts.
“We have an option to bring Collyer from Man United, so we will see,” the Championship club’s manager said. “We spoke already this summer. It was a very nice conversation together with Jonny Evans at that time, who was the loan manager (at United), but at that time, he chose West Brom, which is okay I respect that.
“Maybe he didn’t believe that we would have a good season, and have a good team. It was tricky back then, when you have an embargo, you cannot bring the players. Also, you must look after yourself because you need the minutes, and maybe in our team it’s easier to get the minutes.”
Collyer did not play a full 90 minutes for West Brom in the first part of the season. The closest he came was a 79 minute appearance against Millwall back in October.
Evans has since returned to United as an assistant to interim head coach Darren Fletcher. However, the Northern Irishman will have little say over whether Collyer moves to Hull or not this window.
Hull have had a much better season than anyone anticipated and they currently sit seventh in the Championship, occupying the last play-off spot. They are currently ten points better off than West Brom in the table.