Do you know Man Utd refused to hand Cleverley terms as 16 year-old.

Manchester United did not offer Tom Cleverley pro terms when he was 16, admits coach Brian McClair.

The midfielder has been a revelation at the start of this season.

McClair told the Manchester Evening News: “We didn’t offer Tom a job when he was 16 because he was too small. But he was a good footballer and we recommended to him and his family that he stayed on at school and come in as often as he could to United and we’d see how he developed.

“We’ve had players like Phil Bardsley now at Sunderland and Danny Simpson now at Newcastle who, when they 13, we put them back a year and played them in the Under-12s. It gave them breathing space to catch up physically.

“Having those experiences and the examples more recently of Danny and Tom helps us in the Academy. If we have parents who are worried because their son is not developing physically as quickly as his peers or has an injury we can point to these lads and say ‘look don’t get upset, it has happened before and it can work out fine’.