He could have had it all. Instead, he is a bit-part player in Italy.
Manchester United’s youth academy has produced some gems over the decades with the latest batch helping them to an FA Cup win this season.
Some critics of Sir Alex Ferguson state that he did not leave the club in a great shape for the next manager taking over but players like Jesse Lingard, James Wilson and Adnan Januzaj were breaking through when he retired.
Two players that United had high hopes for, in the academy, are now in England. Paul Pogba is in flying form for Juventus and now valued at £116m. Ravel Morrison is at Lazio but not faring so well [he has made three appearances in Serie A].
Morrison was tipped for the top at United but he seemingly allowed issues from his personal life to affect his game. The 23-year-old conceded, last year, that he ignored advice from Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand and that the club gave him ‘too many chances’.
He left United for West Ham and briefly flowered until he ran into more off the field issues. He had loan spells at Birmingham, QPR and Cardiff before heading to Italy.
In a Copa 90 interview, Ferdinand discussed the sheer talent of Morrison and his hope that the attacker could yet make it as an elite footballer. He said:
“Ravel Morrison, I’ve never seen a guy look so comfortable on a football pitch… I’d love to see him have a chance again and to come back and show everyone his talent. The was just different.
“Pogba, Januzaj and Lingard, they used to look up to this boy. People don’t realise how good he was.”
Morrison is still in his early 20s so there is time yet for him to turn things around.
One more club may take a punt but it could be the last one the Manchester native gets.
