Tom Cleverley has got the taste for trophies.
The Manchester United midfielder collected his first Premier League title medal at the end of last season. Memories of the celebrations that followed still linger. And like so many of his team-mates have found down the years, now Cleverley has experienced the winning feeling, he does not want to lose it.
"We've got the best examples ever," said Cleverley.
"The desire from (Ryan) Giggs, Rio (Ferdinand), (Paul) Scholes, Wayne (Rooney) is what you want. They have all won a number of titles and they're still so hungry to win more. We follow on from that - that feeling passes down to us. We want to be here in 10 years saying we've got six, seven or eight medals. You're brought up like that at this club."
The most satisfying part of last season for Cleverley was the manner in which United responded to the loss of their title to Manchester City. Not for them the nail-biting last-day drama of an injury-time championship triumph.
The Red Devils achieved their aim with four games to spare and eventually settled for an 11-point advantage over City, who could not use bad luck as an excuse.
"We did really well last year," said Cleverley.
"We didn't just win it, we won it in style after the previous year, which really hurt us. We want to retain the title now. The victory parade was incredible and makes us want to win more and more, especially those of us for who it was the first time. We want to be there again and again, going through Manchester on that bus."
Yet Cleverley has a personal battle ahead of him. One of the key components in Roy Hodgson's England World Cup squad, Cleverley is heading into the unknown at Old Trafford. For with Paul Scholes retired and Darren Fletcher facing major question marks over his future, new manager David Moyes has made strengthening his midfield a priority.
A move for Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas is already under way, whilst Everton's Marouane Fellaini and Yohan Cabaye from Newcastle have been linked with Old Trafford moves. It does not faze Cleverley, though. Speaking after Saturday's 5-1 win over an A League All Stars outfit at ANZ Stadium, the 23-year-old insisted no amount of speculation will disturb his focus.
Source: PA
