Tom Cleverley

Thomas William "Tom" Cleverley (born 12 August 1989) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder in the Premier League for Manchester United.

After starting his career in the youth setup at Bradford City, Cleverley joined Manchester United at the age of 12. Between 2007 and 2009 he played for Manchester United's reserve team, and occasionally in first team friendly matches. Cleverley was loaned to League One side Leicester City at the start of 2009, for whom he made his first Football League appearances, helping the team secure the League One title and promotion to the Championship. He spent the 2009–10 season on loan with Watford in the Championship, where he scored 11 goals in 33 league games and was voted as their Player of the Season. On 31 August 2010 he joined Wigan Athletic on a season long loan, where he scored 4 goals in 25 appearances and helped them to avoid relegation on the final day of the season. He returned to Manchester United for the start of the 2011–12 season and made his first competitive appearance in the Community Shield victory against Manchester City.

Cleverley was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, but grew up in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He went to Hanson school.  He was part of Bradford City's youth set up and the next summer he joined Manchester United as a 14-year-old trainee in July 2003. United manager Alex Ferguson said: "We know all about Cleverley as he's been with us a long time, since he was 12. You get to know their character and temperament." During the 2005–06 season, he made nine appearances for the under-18 side. He also received a taste of reserve team football when he was named on the bench for the team's 4–1 away win over Everton on 21 February 2006. His first appearance for the reserves came in a 0–0 away draw to Bolton Wanderers almost a year later, on 15 February 2007, by which time he had become a regular in the under-18 team. However, just over a month later, he suffered a long-term injury and was ruled out for seven months.

He returned to action in October 2007, playing for the reserves in a 1–1 home draw with Liverpool. The 2007–08 season marked Cleverley's emergence as a regular in the Manchester United reserve team, making 21 appearances as the team went on to win both the Manchester Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup, in which he scored in the final against Liverpool. He also scored his first goals in a Manchester United shirt on 23 January 2008, when he scored both of United's goals in a 2–0 away win over Bolton Wanderers in the Premier Reserve League. His consistent performances for the reserves earned him the captaincy of the team in the absence of regular captain Sam Hewson, as well as a nomination for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award – he lost out to Richard Eckersley.

In recognition of his sterling work for the reserves, on 24 July 2008, Cleverley was called up to the Manchester United first team for the remainder of their tour of South Africa and the match against Portsmouth in Nigeria. He made his first team debut against Kaizer Chiefs in the final of the 2008 Vodacom Challenge, coming on in place of Rodrigo Possebon at half-time, before he scored the third of United's four goals just after the hour mark.

He returned to regular reserve team duty for the 2008–09 season, but was given a first team squad number – 35 – when the first team squad list was announced on 15 August 2008, and was named on the bench for United's League Cup matches against Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers.

Paul Scholes' retirement before the 2011–12 season left an opening in Manchester United's central midfield. Cleverley has been identified by manager Sir Alex Ferguson as a potential homegrown replacement for Scholes. Cleverley was praised by Ferguson after playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 victory over Barcelona in a preseason friendly match. Ferguson said that Cleverley was United's "best player" against Barcelona and he indicated that there is a strong possibility that Cleverley could be among the starting eleven in the opening round fixture of the Premier League season against West Bromwich Albion.
Cleverley made his competitive debut for United in the 3–2 comeback win over derby rivals Manchester City in the 2011 Community Shield. He came on as a second-half substitute for Michael Carrick after United went 2–0 down at half time, and assisted Nani's equaliser, after a pass and move build up.

For the 2011–12 season he changed his number to 23 which was previously vacated by Jonny Evans who took Wes Brown's old number 6. He started his first Premier League game for Manchester United on 14 August 2011, playing the full 90 minutes away to West Bromwich Albion in the first game of the 2011–12 season. After impressing in his opening game, Cleverley started Manchester United's second game of the campaign against Tottenham Hotspur on 22 August, getting an assist in the process. He played the full game against Arsenal on 28 August 2011, which Manchester United won 8–2. Cleverley sustained a ligament damage in his foot after being tackled heavily by Bolton's Kevin Davies in the 3rd minute of United's next game, a 5-0 away victory at Bolton Wanderers. It was later confirmed by the club that he would be sidelined for a month with the injury. In October 2011 he signed a new contract keeping him at the club until 2015. On 25th October 2011, Cleverley made his return from injury in the Carling Cup, a 3-0 win against Aldershot Town. He made another appearance 4 days later, away to Everton. Cleverley played in a more advanced midfield role, linking defence with attack and was arguably Manchester United's best player. He left the field of play after 57 minutes due to an ankle injury, but his performance was later hailed by his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, as "outstanding".

Cleverley was called up to Noel Blake's England Under-20 team for the first time on 12 March 2009. However, following a dislocated shoulder suffered while on loan at Leicester City a few days later, he was forced to withdraw from the squad, and was replaced by Leeds United midfielder Adam Clayton.Cleverley eventually made his Under-20 debut on 11 August 2009 in a 5–0 friendly win over Montenegro at The Hawthorns, missing an early penalty but going on to score two second-half goals. He made his England U-21 debut as substitute for Junior Stanislas in a 2–1 win away to Macedonia on 4 September 2009.

In August 2011, he was called up to the England first-team squad for the friendly against the Netherlands by Fabio Capello. But did not end up playing as the game was cancelled on 8 August by the FA after the riots in London. He received another call-up for the Euro 2012 qualifying matches with Bulgaria and Wales later in September 2011 alongside fellow new England additions and club teammates Phil Jones and Chris Smalling but did not end up being in the squad.