In July, Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that the club were looking at sending Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley to a Premiership team on loan.

“Tom is a very talented boy,” he said. “He is going to be a very good footballer. We are also considering putting him on loan to a premier division team.”

However, after an impressive pre-season, Ferguson has changed his mind on Tom, and plans to keep him at United.

“He is an exceptional young player in terms of his ability to play a variety of positions,” he said today. “He is such a talent, we must keep him. He showed at Watford that he’s a goalscorer from midfield and we need that. He has outstanding qualities.”