Wigan Athletic have announced the signing of Manchester United starlet Tom Cleverley on a season-long loan to bolster their ranks today.
The young midfielder impressed on Manchester United’s pre-season tour which led to Sir Alex Ferguson claiming that he intended to keep and blood him through this season. Instead Ferguson has seen fit to release the impressive England U21 international and allow him to get a full season of regular Premier League appearances under his belt at the DW Stadium.
This is nothing new for Cleverley. He enjoyed a loan spell with regular appearances at Leicester City in League One; this was followed by a near full season at Watford in the Championship last season. He claimed the Player of the Season gong at Vicarage Road, scoring 11 goals in 33 appearances before the spell was cut short by injury. Having regained his fitness and form, Cleverley now steps up in a similar deal, this time in the top flight with Wigan.
Roberto Martinez had this to say on Cleverley’s arrival…
”We have been watching him for some time and feel he is the right sort of player to join our squad; young, hungry, desperate to play for the club in the Premier League and to grow with us…He can play in a number of positions and will provide us with some good new options, and add great competition to the squad.”
With the situation with Charles N’Zogbia still cloudy, Cleverley should benefit and gain regular starts in the Latics midfield. A position down the middle of the park – with Hugo Rodallega and Victor Moses on the flanks, and Mauro Boselli or fellow new arrival Franco Di Santo in front of him – looks to be the most likely of positions for Cleverley which could see him heavily involved in Wigan’s progress this season.
Four home ties in his first six appearances (SUN, MCY, bir, WLV, new, BOL) beckon and will certainly help him make a name in front of his new fans.
Cleverley is yet to be placed on the Fantasy Premier League game, but if he is priced as we expect (£5m, or £4.5m if we’re lucky) he could jump to the front of a few queues for that cheap fifth midfielder in our FPL squads although Wigan would have to build on last weekend’s performance at Tottenham before confidence in their squad will grow significantly.