Toughen rebellious characters in Manchester United (5)
I believe the answer is:
inure
'toughen' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to change as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'rebellious characters in manchester united' is the wordplay.
'rebellious' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'characters in' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'eruni' is hidden in the letters of 'manchester united'.
'eruni' in reverse letter order is 'INURE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for inure that I've seen before include "Harden, make accustomed to" , "Harden, habituate" , "harden attitude" , "Cause to become hardened to" , "Harden or accustom as to something unpleasant" .)