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Profit Players: Tom Cleverley was a clever piece of business by Everton
This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.
Everton have a history of signing Manchester United players.
The likes of Tim Howard, Phil Neville, Darron Gibson, Andrei Kanchelskis and Louis Saha have all made the switch from Old Trafford to Goodison Park, with varying results. One of the more recent such transfers is that of Tom Cleverley, who signed for the Toffees on a free transfer from the Red Devils in 2015.
Whilst he may not have been a top performer for the Merseyside outfit, his signing still ended up being a shrewd piece of business.
Cleverley had started out as a highly-rated talent destined for great things. He first burst onto the scene at Watford and Wigan, where he spent time on loan, and before long he was a part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad, and then David Moyes’ when the great man departed. He even picked up 13 caps for England.
In the end, though, despite making 79 appearances for United, he failed to nail down a regular spot in the starting XI and moved to Everton on a free transfer. His pedigree didn’t help him much with the Toffees – he made 42 appearances, scoring two goals and creating a further seven, but he once again failed to become a first team mainstay.
He moved on loan to Watford in January 2017 and, just six months later, the Hornets parted with £8m to take him to Vicarage Road permanently.
Should Everton have held on to Tom Cleverley?
Yes
No
Recently he was relegated to the Championship after making just 18 league appearances last term, so it seems that the Toffees did well to make a seven-figure profit on the midfielder.
Everton fans, what did you make of Cleverley’s time at Goodison Park? Let us know what you think by commenting below!
