Tom Cleverley must use Man Utd link to sign ‘fantastic’ Championship ace for Plymouth Argyle

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Plymouth Argyle boss Tom Cleverley should sign his former Manchester United teammate, who Bolton Wanderers are considering a move for.

Plymouth Argyle have suffered a harsh start to life back in League One within the transfer window this summer.

After relegation from the Championship, Plymouth appointed Tom Cleverley to replace Miron Muslic for the coming campaign, and the former Watford boss has seen the squad he inherited stripped of talent.

Wrexham signed Ryan Hardie earlier this summer, and Adam Randell left Plymouth for Bristol City before Maksym Talovierov joined Stoke City in a £2m move.

With Argyle’s top goalscorer last season, Mustapha Bundu, also departing this summer, Cleverley must employ his Manchester United connection with a Championship forward to fire his side back to the third tier.

• READ MORE: Preston North End set to beat Wrexham and Celtic to signature of ‘highly-regarded’ Northern Irish talent

Plymouth Argyle must beat Bolton Wanderers to sign Will Keane

With the departures of Hardie and Bundu, Cleverley is in need of goalscoring recruits ahead of the 2025/26 League One campaign.

Cleverley’s first impressions of Plymouth were pleasing for the former Man Utd midfielder, but if the Englishman is to mastermind an instant promotion for Argyle, the aforementioned forward duo must be replaced.

This week, Plymouth bid for Rumarn Burrell with a fee reported to be “close to £1m” for the Burton Albion forward, who scored 11 goals and notched two assists in 30 League One appearances last season.

In addition to Burrell, Plymouth should target Preston North End striker Will Keane, who could be available after Preston signed Michael Smith following his Sheffield Wednesday exit.

However, Argyle would face competition from third tier rivals Bolton Wanderers, as journalist Alan Nixon reports on his Patreon that Bolton are “considering a bid” for Keane.

Nixon explained: “Will Keane played 45 minutes for Preston on a closed-door friendly as Bolton consider a bid.

“The experienced forward featured for a half against Tranmere Rovers in a surprise 2-0 defeat by the League Two side. Keane has been strongly linked with Wanderers.”

Cleverley and Keane were Man Utd teammates in the 2011/12 Premier League campaign, so the Plymouth boss will know how much goalscoring prowess the 32-year-old possesses.

• READ MORE: Preston North End must beat Championship rivals to sign Manchester United starlet as ‘loan decision’ made

Will Keane would fire Tom Cleverley’s Plymouth Argyle to promotion

As quoted by Fotmob, when Ryan Lowe was Keane’s manager at Preston at the height of his form, he labelled the Republic of Ireland international as “fantastic”.

Despite dropping off last season with goal contributions for Preston, Keane still had a positive impact at Deepdale.

Keane scored in Preston’s impressive 3-0 win over Burnley in the FA Cup, which proved to be his final goal of the campaign across all competitions.

Keane’s strike aided Preston’s financial gain from their FA Cup run, taking his goal tally to four for the 2024/25 season.

Last season, Keane was limited to just 13 starts by Paul Heckingbottom, but was far more prolific in prior seasons.

In his three seasons at Wigan Athletic from 2020 until 2023, Keane registered double figures for league goals, and did so at Preston in 2023/24 in his debut campaign.

After 14 years in English football, Keane’s proven track record for goals, and his experience, would be a massive benefit to Cleverley as he embarks on the difficult task of overseeing promotion during his first season in the Home Park dugout.

One Championship expert tipped Plymouth for promotion when Muslic was still at the helm, and Keane’s acquisition would help Cleverley complete the task which his predecessor decided against.