Soccerstarz - Tom Cleverley Figurine (Manchester United)

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Thomas William "Tom" Cleverley is an English footballer who plays mainly as a central midfielder for Manchester United and England.

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 three 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.

Manchester United first team
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 25 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". On 6 January 2012 he Tweeted "Plan to b outside running in two weeks and training the week after that. Cnt wait to b back!".

On 20 January, Ferguson stated "I am hopeful in 10 days' time he will be training then we can kick on." Cleverley was due to return for the game at Old Trafford against Liverpool on 11 February 2012, but he was an unused substitute. He eventually returned in a Europa League 2-0 away win against Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena.