After impressing during a loan spell at Wigan Athletic last term, Cleverley has since established himself within the first-team setup at Old Trafford and now finds himself a key member of the squad.
Both Cleverley and Welbeck have benefited from manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s emphasis on the promoting of youth talent to the senior squad, and Welbeck insists that 22-year-old Cleverley has every right to be there.
"I think he can become a world-class player," Welbeck told United Review, the club's matchday programme.
"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, and he's just going to carry on improving. You can see that every single day in training. He's a really good player."
Welbeck added that the two of them are close friends off the pitch, something which he believes is showing when they play together.
"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," he said.
By Elliott Binks
