James Morrison reveals what Toby Collyer has that he wanted in West Brom transfers this summer
James Morrison can't hide his delight to see Toby Collyer back at West Bromwich Albion.
There was much excitement around his loan arrival from Manchester United at The Hawthorns last summer.
However, after seeing that loan stint curtailed through injury just 12 games in, Albion must've been wondering whether they'd missed their chance at a gem.
But after plenty of speculation, the 22-year-old is now back in B71, and this time for good, after a £3million deal was agreed with the Red Devils.
Collyer is part of 12 new signings made by the Baggies this summer, as 2026-27 promises to be a very exciting campaign ahead.
But as Morrison has revealed, Collyer certainly ticked the box for the type of player he wanted to sign these past few months.
What has James Morrison said about Toby Collyer?
If West Brom are to mount a serious promotion push this season, then they will have to prove they've learnt their lessons from last term.
Morrison is still a young coach with plenty to prove in the managerial game, but he's done a fine job of things so far.
The 40-year-old wants players in a similar boat to him in that respect, as he's revealed in an interview via the Express and Star.
Speaking about Collyer, he said: "I wanted people to come to the club who've got something to prove and Toby's got that."
He continued by saying: "We've got a plan for him (Collyer). He's only had a couple of days' training.
"I don't want to say 'I've got to be careful' - it's just got to be right for him.
"It’s for him to be in the building, have some training under him and have some game time.”
So, where are the areas where Collyer perhaps has the most to prove for West Brom this season?
What were the weakest areas of Collyer's game in 2025-26?
As aforementioned, Collyer didn't get much of a chance to really show what he can do with West Brom last season.
Indeed, he culminated just 357 minutes of Championship action in 2025-26 across both his loan spells with West Brom and Hull City.
Per FotMob, he ranked in the bottom 35.7 percentile of all Championship defensive midfielders for his 1.26 accurate long balls per 90 minutes average.
Meanwhile, he also placed in the bottom 44.3 per cent for his 1.01 aerial duels won and the lowest five percentile for his 2.52 fouls committed per game.
His 0.50 shots per 90 also placed him in the bottom 20.7 per cent of his positional peers, and so there's some obvious improvement needed in these areas.