Tom Cleverley

Thomas William Cleverley (born 12 August 1989) is an English football coach and former professional player who played as a midfielder.

In August 2010, he joined Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan, where he scored four goals in 25 appearances and helped them to avoid relegation on the final day of the season.

Cleverley played for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and later that year made his debut for the England national team.

[8] In recognition of his performances 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.

[12] 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.

[19] After two goals in 15 matches for Leicester, Cleverley's loan spell came to a premature end after he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Colchester United.

[23] After being featured and scoring in the pre–season friendly against Valencia, Cleverley was told by Alex Ferguson that he would be loaned out to gain further first-team experience.

[32] Cleverley returned to Manchester United for the beginning of the 2010–11 season and travelled with the squad for their pre-season tour of North America in July 2010.

[34] He then netted his second of the tour on 28 July 2010, scoring United's fourth in their 5–2 win in the 2010 MLS All-Star Game; he controlled Darren Fletcher's flick into the box before lifting the ball over Wilman Conde's head and side-footing it past Nick Rimando.

[39] Cleverley then made his first-team return on 16 October 2010, coming on as a substitute for Ronnie Stam in the 79th minute, in a 2–2 draw against Newcastle United.

[46] Cleverley then made his return from the first team on 5 February 2011, where he came on as a substitute for Victor Moses in the 67th minute, in a 4–3 win over Blackburn Rovers.

[51] Ferguson said that Cleverley was United's "best player" against Barcelona and he indicated that there is a strong possibility that he could be among the starting 11 in the opening fixture of the 2011–12 Premier League season against West Bromwich Albion.

[52] Cleverley made his competitive debut for United in the 3–2 comeback win over derby rivals Manchester City in the 2011 FA Community Shield.

[61] He left the field of play after 57 minutes due to an ankle injury, but his performance was later hailed by his manager, Alex Ferguson, as "outstanding".

[71] On 5 January 2013, Cleverley scored a goal from a Javier Hernández cross in a 2–2 draw against West Ham United in a third Round FA Cup tie.

[72] However, he struggled to regain his first-team place and spent most of the season on the substitutes' bench; nevertheless, he made 22 appearances, which was enough to earn him a Premier League winner's medal.

[73] In the 2013–14 season, under the new management of David Moyes, Cleverley found himself competing in a midfielder spot with newly signing Marouane Fellaini[74] and also began playing in a deep position.

[citation needed] With the signings of Ander Herrera, Ángel Di María, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw and Radamel Falcao for the 2014–15 season, Cleverley found himself on the fringes of the Manchester United squad under new manager Louis van Gaal, who had taken over from David Moyes over the summer.

[87] His manager, Paul Lambert, denied rumours that there was a clause in Cleverley's contract that he had to start when fit, and defended the player after he was cheered sarcastically by some Aston Villa supporters when substituted in matches.

[101] After two months without playing, Cleverley finally made his return to the first team against James McCarthy in the 68th minute, in a 3–3 draw against AFC Bournemouth on 28 November 2015.

[110] On 12 January 2017, Cleverley joined Premier League club Watford on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season, with a view to a permanent transfer, after failing to establish himself at Everton.

[113] Having quickly made an impact for the side, it was announced on 31 March 2017 that Cleverley would join Watford permanently on 1 July on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

[115] In the 2017–18 season, Cleverley continued to feature in the first team regularly following the managerial appointment of Marco Silva and was expected to face competition for a place in the side.

[8] 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.

[121] 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.

[124] On 20 July 2012, Cleverley played in a warm up match for the Olympics at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough against Brazil national under-23 football team.

[129] 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-mates Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, but did not end up playing.

[131] He made his competitive debut on 7 September 2012, playing the full 90 minutes in a 5–0 win away to Moldova during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying[132] and received praise for his performance from manager Roy Hodgson.

[133] On 12 October 2012, playing against San Marino in a World Cup qualifier, Cleverley made 165 touches during the match, the highest ever recorded for an England player.

[8] In October 2011, Cleverley accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages over a false claim made by The Sun newspaper the previous August that he had "badgered" a girl for sex in Blackpool.

Cleverley playing for Manchester United in 2010
Cleverley signing memorabilia alongside Danny Welbeck in 2011
Cleverley (centre, in white) playing for Aston Villa in 2015.