Sir Alex Ferguson said at the end of last season his biggest task for the summer was replacing the man many regard to be the finest English player of his generation.
Scholes' retirement led to United being heavily linked with Luka Modric, Wesley Sneijder and Samir Nasri.
However, instead of bringing in one of those big names, Ferguson looks set to rely on his youngsters, in particular Cleverley, who was outstanding in last weekend's Community Shield and was drafted into the England squad by Fabio Capello for the postponed midweek friendly with Holland.
Ferdinand has no doubts Cleverley can make a big impact for United this season.
But the Londoner feels attaching the Scholes label would be too much for the 22-year-old.
"If he gets near to Paul Scholes he will have done well," said Ferdinand, ahead of United's opening game at West Brom tomorrow.
"Tom will be his own player. I am sure he would rather be that than titled the new this or that.
"He has some great traits. He sees the game clearly and plays the ball forward in a nice way.
"It is a huge pressure to be tagged the next Paul Scholes."
Born in Basingstoke, Cleverley grew up in Bradford and emerged through the Bantams' youth set-up.
Promise
His promise was quickly spotted by United and after joining the club's academy, Cleverley spent time on loan at Watford before going to Wigan last season, when he became battle-hardened during the Latics' successful fight against the drop.
"Tom has been here a long time," recalled Ferdinand.
"He came part-time as a youngster. Everyone remembers him.
"He was very slight but he has worked hard. He has matured and grown.
"He has gone out on loan, done his apprenticeship and come back a fantastic young player."
Like Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge, Cleverley has benefited from time away, learning the harsh realities of life in the top-flight at a time when chances would have been limited at his parent club.
"Everybody knew he had the talent," said Ferdinand. "It was about realising it and pushing on.
"All the things people were worrying about, with regard to his height and size have been knocked on the head now. He is showing people his true worth.
"Sunday was one game but he did it on loan at Wigan last year.
"I heard Roberto Martinez speak many times about how good he is. He brings that to Manchester United and I am sure he will have a fantastic career."
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I really hope Cleverly will be great i like his attitude and his calmness he's just there to do the job...And He's very focused.....And very comfortable on the ball....
In the same way that every Irishman was tagged 'the new George Best', every future offensive midfield player will be unfairly compared to Paul Scholes for some years to come. Since he was the best of his generation and a true legend, such comparisons are likely to weigh heavily on their shoulders. The fact is Paul Scholes is part of our history and needs to be parked there. Guys like Tom Cleveley, Anderson and Ravel Morrison are the future. If their careers give them half of the success that Paul enjoyed, they will retire as happy bunnies.
People get too carried away one charity shield does not herald the new messiah he like pogba will be fantastic players in a couple of years.
Do not expect them to take us to european glory that is a season or two away have to be patient with tom paul and david de gea ....they will be great soon anything between now and then is a bonus ,great teams take a couple of seasons to build unless you buy proven international players of quality
Cleverly and Progba will both have big futures at our club.
He needs a couple of seasons under his belt before we can assess his overall game and effectiveness in the team. He has undoubted potential, he needs the full support of everyone; staff, team, and fans to ensure that he makes it.
Where is posedon. Same was said of him. Watched him when United played in Nigeria 3 yrs ago, he really had a nice game
promising, very promising indeed, knows when the game is in an urgent mood so he can rush. i hope he can also shoot at goal. great lad
Not sure why his height should come into it. If I'm not mistaken he's taller than Scholes, Messi and Sneijder
Ferdinand should worry more about his own game because it seems Smalling and even jones are better than him now.
He is 22 now so now is his moment. I hope Fergie gives him the playing time he gave Fletcher, and we can then see if he can step up to the plate over a season, and become a regular. The fact Fergie has mentioned Pogba in a couple of interviews suggests that he might be given a chance as well.
On a different note he also mentioned giving Welbeck especially and Macheda a shout at playing as well. I wonder if Berba will be sold before the transfer window shuts?
Why is Rio Ferdinand commenting on Cleverley? He should be worrying about his own position. Jones and Smalling looking to take over him sooner rather than later. Ferdinand who costed United a whopping £29,100,000 ( the most expensive defender to date) and who know exactly how much does Rio ferdinand earn in a week now?
He tend to get too opinionated about other people's business and spent too much time on the Twitter and trying to be a pundit or something. He should concentrate on his own form and performance on the field and show the fans he much he could contribute.
to me all this building up of cleverly is just a sham to cover over fergi`s failure to sign a quality central midfeilder. we got dominated by average midfeilds last season we will be dominated again. i just hope somebody stands up to prove me wrong.