Instead of helping Manchester United mount a charge on the top four this season, midfielder Tom Cleverley has been fighting to keep Aston Villa in the Premier League. Cleverley was signed by the Villans on a year-long loan deal after it became apparent that new United manager Louis van Gaal did not see him as part of his future plans. The Red Devils haven’t missed the midfielder and so a return to Old Trafford this summer is highly unlikely.

Instead, Cleverley may receive a permanent contract with Villa after impressing manager Tim Sherwood who has been full of praise about the young man's loan spell. Villa are sitting in 14th with only three matches of the current campaign to go and they’ll be hoping that they have done enough to avoid the dreaded drop once again.

Cleverley has become a vital team member starting 28 of their league games and although he has never been the most prolific in front of goal he has found the net twice this term including his goal against Manchester City which put Villa back into the match though unfortunately they were denied a crucial point after the Citizens snatched a last-gasp goal. His most recent was during Villa’s last away fixture to Everton which resulted in Sherwood’s men beating the Toffees 3-2 making it their third win from their last four in all competitions.

Once Villa wrap up their domestic campaign hopefully with Premier League football secured for another season they can prepare for the FA Cup final and the potential, though a remote one, of actually winning a trophy. They’ll have to beat holders Arsenal but on the day anything is possible though having their key players like Cleverley, Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph all at their best will be absolutely vital for Villa to get any kind of foothold in the game.

25 -year-old Cleverley gained a huge amount of experience during his three seasons at Manchester United featuring in Champions League games and winning trophies such as the domestic title and two Community Shield’s but he has yet to win the FA Cup. On the 30th May he will get the chance to change that.

Cleverley has done himself proud at Villa Park but his good showing has drawn interest from other clubs notably Everton who think the England international would make a good addition to their own midfield. Particularly after his influential performance against them on the weekend manager Roberto Martinez will have seen up close how the acquisition of the player could improve their chances of European qualification or at least may lead to an overall better campaign next time around.

Tom Cleverley has had a hard time during these last few years drawing more criticism than he deserves but now at Aston Villa he appears to have found a team which truly appreciates his solid and dependable work. It will be tempting to sign for a club which has more money and is more likely to bring success rather than yearly relegation battles but those bigger clubs always come with the risk of being dropped to the bench if the players performances drop for a few games. Cleverley won’t have to worry about that at Villa and who knows how far a talented up and coming manager like Tim Sherwood will take the club in the next few seasons.

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