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Aston Villa have until Monday to decide whether they want to sign Tom Cleverley on a permanent basis.

The club have an option to buy the on-loan Manchester United midfielder before the end of the transfer window if they decide that a long-term move would be beneficial.

Cleverley will remain at Villa Park until the end of the season regardless, but if Villa fail to act in the next four days they face the risk of losing him to a rival in the summer.

His United contract expires in June, which means he will be entitled to talk to other clubs about a move.

Despite his ineffective displays, there won’t be a shortage of suitors interested in the 25-year-old, and Villa must weigh up their options over the weekend.

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If they do sign him permanently, and at this stage it looks very unlikely, they will have to cough up a sizeable transfer fee for his services.

Of course, if they wait until the summer they could land him on a free transfer.

Villa would then be in a position to offer a larger financial package as an incentive to sign, but plenty of other clubs will, too.

Cleverley’s move to the Midlands was supposed to re-ignite his career but he has not had the desired impact so far.

Although he’s a tidy midfielder with international and Champions League experience, he is yet to score or assist a goal for Villa.

Supporters even cheered sarcastically when he was substituted at Villa Park recently, which goes some way to explaining how he’s failed to hit it off.

Boss Paul Lambert hasn’t lost faith with him yet but with Fabian Delph and Ashley Westwood returning in recent times, Cleverley’s place in the team is in danger.

I sound like a broken record when I say the 13-capped England international needs a goal to lift his spirits, but sometimes that’s all it takes.

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Confidence is a massive factor in football and right now it’s seriously lacking.

The second half of the season could shape his career and he’ll be well aware that if Villa don’t sign him permanently before Monday then he’ll have to make an impact to land a big move in the summer.

When he arrived in September he stated that his Old Trafford days were over and in a recent poll conducted by the Manchester Evening News, 90 per cent of United fans said they wanted him out.

There is definitely a decent player in there but whether Villa will see him is another matter.