There is no need for a clearing account when using PayPal or a credit card.
You are using PayPal or the credit card to pay for something. Both PayPal and credit cards should be set up as bank accounts in Manager. See Set up a bank or cash account | Manager and Set up credit cards | Manager. When you buy something, enter a payment and select the bank account from which funds are obtained (meaning PayPal or the credit card). That is all there is to recording the payment for the purchase.
If you are importing your PayPal statement, that is the time to categorize transactions by allocating them to appropriate accounts. You can automate all or most of this process with rules. (Because of changes within the past few days, the Guide on this is out of date. But it will still explain the concept. See Import bank statements | Manager. Rules are now set up as receipt rules and payment rules under those tabs. They are also more sophisticated than described for the old Bank Rules settings page.)
Next comes the question of inter account transfers. Credit cards are typically paid off based on monthly statements. For this, you transfer money from a regular, demand deposit bank account using an inter account transfer operation. See Transfer money between bank and cash accounts | Manager.
Transfers for PayPal accounts can be more complex, because you have options about how to set them up. If a purchase transaction is transferred immediately to a bank account or credit card, you need to enter an inter account transfer for every purchase. If you have an arrangement that retains balances in your PayPal account as is periodically replenished, you would make transfers then. Hopefully you get the idea.
Another alternative is to bypass recording anything in PayPal and enter it into Manager only when it hits your traditional bank account or credit card, as though the transaction involved that source of funding only. In effect, you would be treating PayPal as nothing more than a delivery service in that case.
Regardless of how you handle PayPal, though, the important thing is to understand that purchases are allocated to appropriate expense accounts when first recorded, not during any subsequent transfer. The money has been spent at that point, the expense incurred. The expense account allocation is recorded when the money leaves the business. The various transfers just involve shuffling money within the business from one pocket to another.