Some would argue Cleverley’s already there, but Welbeck’s sober analysis is more along the lines that the youngster his heading in the right direction and will reach the ‘world class’ heights very soon.
Welbeck told United Review:
‘Football is such a simple game, it’s how hard you make it for yourself. Tom keeps it so simple and it is hard to do that when you’re in centre-midfield, but Tom does that.
‘He gets the ball, passes it, moves into space and he’s just always there as an extra option every time you’ve got the ball.
‘He’s really good to play with, I enjoy playing with him so much and he’s got the awareness, the vision and the ability to pick out a pass and actually produce a final pass as well.
‘He’s just going to carry on improving. You can see that every single day in training. He’s a really good player.’
‘We are really good friends off the field and quite a few people come up to us and tell us that it shows on the field.
‘We’ve been through the same training schedule growing up through the academy, the same coaches who have taught us the same things, so we’re on the same wavelength and we know each other’s games inside out, more or less.’
Not many would argue with Welbeck’s assessment of his now vital colleague to the Red cause.