Tom Cleverley facing a race against time to prove himself at Manchester United

Cleverley has to face the long road ahead

Manchester United have a talent for turning young boys into world class footballers and Tom Cleverely is definitely one of them. The Bradford lad joined United as an 11-year-old and has come a long way since then. The 24-year-old originally started out as a left back but was converted into a traditional central midfielder due to his technical abilities.

The talented midfielder shone for all of United’s youth teams and even managed to find the back of the net against Liverpool in the 2007-2008 season. Cleverley continued his hot streak with a brace against Bolton Wanderers in January. Injuries have always been an issue for this talented player and have played a big role in limiting his appearances for Manchester United.

Cleverley has had excellent loan spells and is looked up to by upcoming footballers. The player scored 2 goals in 15 games for Leicester City before an injury struck and was the star player of the team. The 2009-2010 season was extremely fruitful for Cleverley, who scored 11 goals in 33 games for Watford. He was loaned out to Wigan the next season and played a big part in keeping them in the top flight. He ended his season at Wigan with 4 goals.

Cleverley had an instant impact when he return to Manchester United and assisted Nani’s goal in the edge of the seat encounter with Manchester City in the 2011-2012 Community Shield. He was always seen as a replacement to the evergreen Paul Scholes due to them having similar abilities but the youngster has a long way to go before he can match the feats of the ginger haired magician. Last season saw him give some strong performances against Everton and Newcastle United but consistency is the name of the game in the Premier League. Manchester United’s shaky midfield has places up for grabs and Cleverley has an excellent chance of becoming a first choice midfielder alongside Michael Carrick.

The ongoing season has begun on a good note for Cleverley and he was particularly good in the recent game against Arsenal. Carrick and Cleverley are a terrific combo and are two of the best technical players right now. Maroune Fellani looks to challenge Cleverley for a midfield spot this season and that should motivate him to up his game.

Cleverley is one of the fastest players in the Premier League and his pace is perhaps his biggest gift. The England international has put up some strong performances for his country but has still to convince Roy Hodgson that he is here to stay. Manchester United have some challenging games in December which will given Cleverley a golden opportunity to prove himself.

Nick Powell, Jesse Lingard and Adnan Januzaj are all going to give competition to Cleverley in the future, so he needs to pull up his long football socks soon. But he has always been a bit of a fighter and is sure to prove to every one that he is no pushover. Manchester United fans will surely root for this clever Red Devil.