Boss: Cleverley Must Stay

Tom Cleverley will remain with United this season because Sir Alex Ferguson says he is so talented that the Reds cannot afford to let him join another club on loan.

Cleverley impressed on loan last season with Watford and, although he has been considered to have a promising future at Old Trafford, Sir Alex was at one point mulling over sending him on loan to a Premier League club.

But Cleverley, who turns 21 next week, did himself a lot of favours with his performances on the summer tour across North America.

“He is an exceptional young player in terms of his ability to play a variety of positions,” Sir Alex said on Friday. “He can play in central midfield and on both wings. He is such a talent, we must keep him.

"He showed at Watford that he’s a goalscorer from midfield and we need that. Apart from Darron Gibson, we don't have a lot of goals coming from midfield. The days of expecting [Paul] Scholes to score 15 goals a season have gone now. So we needed to look at that area and there's no doubt Cleverley has outstanding qualities as far as goalscoring is concerned.”

The manager’s words are a major boost for Tom, whose burgeoning young career is really starting to take shape at Old Trafford.

However, Sir Alex has confirmed that two of his young strikers will be going out on loan this season to gain first-team experience. Danny Welbeck and Mame Diouf looks set to join Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers respectively.