In a way that only he can, Sir Alex Ferguson stayed to his word by giving Tom Cleverley a chance to gain first-team experience - but it just not going to be at Old Trafford this season.
The promising young starlet, who is dubbed to be the long-term replacement to Paul Scholes, is set to join Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan deal when he gets back from international duty with the English U-21 national team, which should best please Roberto Martinez.
Cleverley is a very talented attack-minded midfielder who can play in a wide variety of positions, which will definitely suit Martinez's positive style of play.
The 37-year old manager, who is entering his second full season with the Greater Manchester club, has endured a very frustrating start to the 2010/11 Barclays Premier League season with his team only scoring one goal in their first three matches, which the capture of Cleverley should change.
Wigan's problem is that they are susceptable to conceding goals and have already given up a league-high 10 goals this season, which included a shock 4-0 loss to Blackpool and a 6-0 thrashing by Chelsea at the DW Stadium.
However, their luck changed in their last match against top-four hopeful, Tottenham Hotspur, and they earned their first points of the season with a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane. Mind you, in the same fixture last year, the scoreline was 9-1 in favor of the home side.
Promising
The 21-year old midfielder is not shy to going out on loan having spent the last two seasons with Leicester City and Watford, respectively.
At Watford, Cleverley earned their 2009/10 Player of the Season by scoring 11 goals in 33 appearances for the Hornets, but it could have been more if he did not suffer a knee ligament injury in April.
United supporters got to see Cleverley in action during the Tour 2010 this summer, and he scored a peach of a goal in the 5-2 win over the MLS All-Stars in July, and had a bit of fortune on his side against Celtic.
In the first match of the tour, Cleverley struck United's third and final goal in a 3-1 win over their British rival, but his shot took a massive deflection and might not have been given to him in a regular season match.
Cleverley received a chipped through ball from John O'Shea, and with his first touch, the energetic midfielder clipped the ball over the oncoming defender, Wilman Conde, and then he neatly slotted the ball home passed Nick Rimando with his next touch.
He fully deserved his goal, because he put a very industrious, classy performance against the best players in Major League Soccer.
At the end of the season, both Roberto Martinez and the Wigan Athletic supporters will be thanking Sir Alex Ferguson for allowing Tom Cleverley to join them on this season-long loan deal, because he is definitely one for the future.
Contributed by David Hammons / The United Religion
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