Ravel Morrison ‘could have been £100m superstar’ if Man Utd had given him mentor, claims Rio Ferdinand
RAVEL MORRISON could have been a £100MILLION player, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has claimed.
Morrison was once an integral member of the Red Devils youth team where he starred alongside Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard in the 2011 FA Youth Cup final win over Sheffield United.
Morrison kicked off his career with United – where he was lauded by Sir Alex Ferguson as the best player to emerge from the United academy in decades.
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But he was shipped off to West Ham in 2012 for £650,000 after a series of off the pitch issues at Old Trafford.
The 27-year-old is currently on loan at Middlesbrough from Sheffield United, his ninth club in six years after spells in Italy, Mexico and Sweden.
Ferdinand, who was playing for United's first team when Morrison was in the youth squad, said he tried to guide the youngster on the right path but wasn't allowed.
"But this goes back to my earlier point about Gavin [Rose, Dulwich Hamlet manager].
"If Gavin was at Manchester United back then, then I don't think Ravel slips through the net, I think Ravel becomes a £100m player.
"But there wasn't someone like that at United then and even now I don't see people like that at clubs.
"People from the estates, from the streets with similar backgrounds to these players so they can talk to them.
"I know Ravel was talking to someone [allocated by the club] that was told to look after him, walking this guy through the park and telling him what he wanted to hear and then going and doing what he wanted to do.
"Because he could get away with it."
Instead of pushing on after making his United debut in a League Cup tie in 2010 against Wolves, Morrison mixed with the wrong crowd.
His first brush with the law came in 2008, when he was cautioned by police for common assault.
Three years later Morrison was lucky to avoid a jail term when he was charged with intimidating a witness who had been the victim of a robbery at knife-point.
Then, just a few months later, he was back in court again charged with assaulting his girlfriend and causing criminal damage.
He accepted a fine, but his Man Utd career was all but over with Fergie washing his hands of the starlet.
Sam Allardyce gave Morrison a shot at Upton Park but just a month after signing he was fined £7,000 for posting a homophobic threat on Twitter.
The former United midfielder was shipped out on loan to Birmingham where he butted heads with Blues manager Lee Clark over his time-keeping and general attitude.
Morrison returned to Upton Park for the 2013-14 season and turned over a new leaf to enjoy perhaps the best spell of his career.
He scored five times that campaign, including a brilliant solo run and goal against Tottenham and Ferdinand believes he is yet to find a talent that matches Morrison's early promise.
The 41-year-old said: "Ravel's talent, I've always said it, I've never seen a kid of that age - 14, 15 years old - like it in my life, he was different.
"Even if you see his videos now, he sent me some from training at Sheffield United what he was doing to man was nasty still.
"He was doing mad stuff. The game comes so easy to him, it's effortless."
Despite showing glimpses of his talent at West Ham, Morrison failed to hold down a regular starting spot.
Paul Pogba has fond memories of his former youth team-mate and recalled the time the pair almost came to blows when the Frenchman “smashed him” in training.
Jesse Lingard is still close pals will Morrison, and the duo were recently spotted out on a run during lockdown.
The 27-year-old was set to make his international debut for Jamaica in February for a friendly clash against Catalonia in Spain, before football was KO'd by the coronavirus crisis.