Having impressed on loan at Watford last season, Tom Cleverley has been rewarded with a new 3 year contract at Old Trafford.
The young midfielder was awarded Watford’s player of the year award having scored 11 goals in 33 appearances for the Hornets despite the fact his loan spell at Vicarage Road was cut short by a knee ligament injury. He is well on course in his recovery and is set to be ready for the start of the season although where he will play is still uncertain.
Despite signing on to continue his tutelage at Old Trafford, Cleverley is set to go out on loan but this time at a Premier League club with Newcastle leading the race for his signature although many United fans feel that if in the event that United do not bring in midfield reinforcements then Cleverley should remain at the club.
The 3 year deal is an indicator that Cleverley does have a future at the club regardless if he goes out on loan this season and the experience he picks up if he does will place him in good stead to succeed at the club later on.
I still think this lad has the talent to make it at Man Utd next season. He can play in the middle and on the right which gives us good options. He has proven himself now in League 1 and in the Championship. He is 20-21 and that is a good age for him to get involed in our first team. We risk negleting our home grown players in favour of expensive youngsters like Anderson. Andrson also has alot of ability, but I wouldn’t be suprised if his attitude is preventing him from fufiling his potential. Cleverly perhaps lacks the natural ability of Anderson, but will work harder to make it at Man Utd. I wouldn’t be against selling Anderson to a French club for £10-12 million and giving Cleverly his place. If we can sign a quality central midfielder player then we should. In that case we can allow Carrick to move on. Next season Fletcher, Hargreaves, Cleverly, Gibson, Scholes and a new arrival (maybe Van der Vaart, or in my dreams, Mesut Ozil) can make our central midfield competetive. Scholes still has quality to contribute 1 more season. Fletcher has become our main midfielder and balances the team. Hargreaves will be an asset if he can recover to a good level. A new signing is needed for me to bring some freshness and imagination to the team. It will also boost the morale of the players and the fans. Then we have Gibson and Cleverly to bring that youthful energy we need at times, although both are inexperience.
My natural inclination is to think sending young players on loan is best. However, if he’s developing at an early rate it may be best to put him in the team now. If Barca have been putting players in and around 20 years old, why shouldn’t we? Though a loan may seem a natural step in a player’s development, it may impede in their building of a confident mentality as they may always be thinking “I’m not ready yet” if that’s the message the club is sending them.
That being said, a loan to a Premiership club (and not Championship or Europe) for one year may not be so bad as he’d likely start all year at the same level of competition. But they should take a good look at not be too reserved in determining what is best.
I use to think the same Jonathan that sending the kids out on loan was good. However history hasn’t really shown that lately. I mean Foster was out on loan and sadly he never made it at Man Utd. Frazier Campbell was sent out on loan to Spurs, after a good season with Hull, and was then sold. The worse for me was Rossi. I was convinced he would be a superstar at Man Utd and thought a loan to Newcastle would be the making of him. It didn’t work out and he then went out to Parma, before being sold. Pique was loaned to Zaragoza and was sold a season after. If Cleverly is loaned out again, which would be his third spell away, then I would expect he will be sold at the end of the season.
I guess, it comes down to 57424 simple choice!