earned him a nomination for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year Award; however, he ultimately finished in third behind Januzaj and fellow defender Marnick Vermijl. Birmingham City (loan) Thorpe was ever-present for the under-21s in the first half of the 2013–14 season, and his performances in helping Manchester United to the best defensive record in the league attracted the attention of Birmingham City, who signed him and two fellow United youngsters, defender Tyler Blackett and forward Federico Macheda, on 31 January 2014 on loan until the end of the 2013–14 season. He made his senior debut the following day, starting a Championship match against Derby County, but was stretchered off after only 14 minutes after injuring an ankle. He returned to Manchester United for treatment after suffering ligament damage, and the loan was terminated on 3 March. Thorpe rejoined Birmingham City until the end of the season on 27 March, but returned to Manchester United again with two games of the season remaining to undergo treatment, having suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury in April 2014. First team On 25 September 2014, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal confirmed in his weekly press conference that youngsters would be drafted in to the first team to help ease the club's injury crisis at the centre-back position. Ahead of a Premier League match against West Ham United at Old Trafford two days later, Thorpe and Paddy McNair were named in the squad, with McNair starting the game and Thorpe on the bench; he came on as a substitute for Ángel Di María in injury time at the end of the game to make his top-flight debut. Rotherham United Thorpe was released by Manchester United at the end of his contract in July 2015. He then joined Rotherham United on a two-year deal on 3 July. He made his debut for the club on 8 August 2015, the opening day of the 2015–16 Football League Championship season, playing at centre-back in a 4–1 home defeat to Milton Keynes Dons; after Rotherham went 3–1 down in the first half, Thorpe missed a header in the second half that would have made the score 3–2. After being named as an unused substitute for the League Cup win over Cambridge United three days later, Thorpe returned to the side for the 2–1 league defeat away to Nottingham Forest on 15 August, coming