Cleverley signs new contract
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Bolton 0-5 Man Utd
Ferguson confirms Cleverley fears
Sir Alex Ferguson has condemned the tackle that left Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley with a broken foot.
Cleverley left the Reebok Stadium with his foot in a protective cast after being caught in a tackle by Bolton skipper Kevin Davies. Even Cleverley fears the worst, which comes at a bad time given the 22-year-old has just broken into the England squad.
The injury cast a shadow over United's ruthless 5-0 triumph and left Ferguson biting his lip. "We think it is a broken foot,'' said Ferguson. "It is unfortunate but we expected it. It was a bad tackle.''
Davies was not cautioned for the incident but shortly afterwards picked up his 100th Premier League booking for felling Patrice Evra. If the worst is realised, Cleverley can expect to be out for around three months.
The injury did not prevent United maintaining their sensational early season form, with Wayne Rooney becoming only the fourth player in Premier League history to score hat-tricks in back-to-back games.
It took Rooney's tally onto eight for the season, more than 18 Premier League clubs have so far managed, the exceptions being United and Manchester City. It also moved him level with Sir Bobby Charlton on seven three-timers for the club.
It is a far cry from Rooney's poor form of 12 months ago, with Ferguson believing the trigger has been his number one striker's new-found maturity. "When players get to their mid-20s, there is more thought in their game,'' said Ferguson.
"Their timing is better. Wayne's presence is good and he is looking fantastic.''
Rooney was joined on the scoresheet by strike partner Javier Hernandez. Handed his first start of the season, the Mexican took just four minutes to open his account, nipping in front of Gary Cahill to touch home Nani's low cross.
Rooney then took centre stage, netting twice before the break and completing his three-timer after the interval before Hernandez rounded off another amazing win, coming just a fortnight after United scored eight against Arsenal.
"Hernandez's movement, speed, imagination and presence within the game was terrific,'' said Ferguson. "He is a menace to any defender. Over the years the second season for players can be hard. But I never had any doubts.''
Ferguson will check on Evra, who took a blow to the knee, before finalising his squad for Wednesday's Champions League encounter with Benfica in Lisbon, although he expects to be without Jonny Evans, who was forced off with a hip injury.
"Without the goals, Jussi Jaaskelainen had two saves in the game,'' reflected Bolton boss Owen Coyle. "We had double the shots, treble the crosses and David De Gea made some great saves.
"We paid the price for probably every mistake we made in the game but the Premier League is ruthless.''
After four games, the table has been annexed by the two Manchester clubs, who have yet to drop a point between them. "They are both terrific teams,'' said Coyle.
"City have spent £300 million since they came in and United spent enormous sums of money in the summer as well to bring good players to the club. There's no doubt when you have that wealth at your disposal it makes it easier to get world-class players in your team.
"The form they are in just now, both sides, they are pleasing on the eye and scoring lots of goals. It's going to be a fantastic title race this year again, no doubt about it.''
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Just when he was going to start for england against spain.....
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United relieved as Cleverley is ruled out for just four weeks with ligament damage
Crunch: Tom Cleverley (right) is tackled by Bolton's Kevin Davies
Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley suffered ligament damage in his foot, but no break, following a tackle by Kevin Davies during Saturday's 5-0 win at Bolton.
United expect the England Under-21 midfielder to be out for four weeks which is an improvement on the forecast when they feared a fracture would have meant he was unable to play for months.
The 22-year-old will miss England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro next month but should be available for November's matches, when national team manager Capello has pencilled him in to make his debut.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who condemned Davies' tackle, will have been cheered by the news one of his rising stars is out for weeks rather than months.
But he confirmed Jonny Evans and Patrice Evra are doubtful for Wednesday's Champions League clash with Benfica in Lisbon.
'Jonny is doubtful for Wednesday,' Ferguson told MUTV.
'He got a knee in the hip in the second half which was pretty painful, while Patrice got a kick on the kneecap.'
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4 weeks out is also a long time, damn
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Lan Jiao
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We might see paul pogba on the bench soon.
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but seriously, is he that good?? i still think, more for the future..
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Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley has signed a new contract which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2015.
Cleverley made his first competitive start for the Premier League champions in August's win at West Brom, two days after his 22nd birthday. Such has been the academy graduate's impact, he has already won a call-up to England's senior squad, though he has yet to play for Fabio Capello's side.
The England Under-21 international's football education came in the form of loan spells at Leicester City, where he won the League One title, Watford and Wigan Athletic before being welcomed into the United first-team squad this season.
He is currently out injured with ligament damage to his foot suffered in the 5-0 win at Bolton Wanderers a month ago, but is in contention to return on Saturday in the Premier League clash with rivals Liverpool.
"Tom is one of the brightest prospects in the English game,'' United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said. "For a young boy, he has a good footballing brain which, when coupled with his energy and ability, makes for a player with a fine future ahead of him.
"It's the United way to encourage our young players to make their mark in the first team and Tom has grabbed that chance with both hands."
Cleverley said: "It's been a fantastic start to the season for me, breaking into the first team and getting an England call-up. Having grown up at the club, I'd love to be able to make a contribution to United winning more trophies.
"We have a squad with great ability and I can't wait to get started again.''
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It has been reported that he is to join Chris Smalling and Phil Jones on $40k a week... He was previously on $20k... And the next one is Welbeck who is also offered the same amount...
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chris smalling and phil jones are great signing for united. future england centreback or right back for the matter, as both can play both positions. united future rearguard is in safe hands. If De Gea does fulfil his promises at united and become world class, then even if fergie retire in a few years time, his successor will inherit a squad that will challenge for honours for many years to come.
I hope whoever succeed fergie, will not become like souness. when he took over liverpool in 1991, the first things he did was to sold off en mass of good players like beardsley, staunton et al and bought over rated players like paul stewart, nigel clough, dean saunders et al.