Former Manchester United academy star Ravel Morrison has spoken out on the numerous crazy rumours attached to his name over the years.
The youngster is one of the biggest “what if” stories in United’s recent history. A hero of the 2011 Youth Cup winning team, Morrison was even more highly-rated than Paul Pogba, who would go on to win the World Cup with France.
His former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, claimed he was the “saddest case” as he “possessed as much natural talent as any youngster we ever signed, but kept getting into trouble.”
Despite his incredible ability, Morrison would go on to make just three appearances for the first team before being sold to West Ham United in 2012.
He has had a career all over the world including the United States, Italy, Sweden, Mexico and is now playing in the United Arab Emirates for Precision FC.
Speaking to The Athletic, he opened up on his image as a “bad boy” and believes that he is still beaten with the same stick years after the events took place.
The youngster has had numerous legal problems in his career and in 2011, “received a 12-month referral order and was ordered to pay £1,445 in costs and compensation after admitting two counts of witness intimidation.”
He lamented the image his name still conjures by claiming, “even now, I can guarantee that if I signed for a club in England, the headline in all the newspapers would be something negative. If another player at United gets into trouble, he’s always ‘the next Ravel’.
Morrison elaborated, “so many people have formed an opinion about me, but those opinions are based on things that happened 10 to 15 years ago. I’m 32 now. I’ve played football around the world and had a good career. I’m not a kid of 16 or 17 anymore.”
Switching focus to his current club Precision, he asserted that the lifestyle is comfortable but that the level of football in the third tier of UAE football “is not the best.”
He firmly believes that he still has the capacity to play at a much higher level and feels that it is only his reputation that is getting in the way of making a return.
Morrison claimed, “I do believe I can play in the Championship – easy. The frustrating thing is I’m not getting the opportunity.” He asserted that his agent has been very close to a deal with numerous clubs, only for them to pull out due to reservations from various managers about his reputation.
Commenting on the issue he stated, “time has moved on, it’s over a decade ago. But it’s crazy sometimes how people don’t move on.”
The 32 year old then went into detail on some of the colourful rumours that have plagued his career over the years.
The Athletic asked if it was true that he decided to leave Rome on his first day at SS Lazio due to them having no salad cream in the club canteen. He retorted, “I’ve never heard that one. No salad cream? I’d just take my own salad cream!”
He equally dispelled the rumour at West Ham that he complained about his accommodation because it was haunted. Morrison replied, “Ahahaha! I haven’t got a clue where that’s come from, either. Honestly, every time I speak to someone different, there is a story that I had never heard before.”
Morrison also branded the notion that he is a heavy drinker as completely false. Whilst appearing on a football podcast, Under the cosh, he said that he was astounded when one of the hosts had stated that he assumed that the former United man had always been a big drinker.
He defended himself by stating, “I don’t know how anyone ever got that idea. I will maybe have a drink if it’s Christmas or a special occasion like a birthday. But I don’t go out drinking at weekends, or even once a month, because it just doesn’t appeal to me.”
Interestingly, Morrison revealed that while at United, he was diagnosed with ADHD but was prohibited from taking his prescribed medication.
Speaking on the topic he said, “I don’t know if it was (a ruling from) FIFA itself, because of the restrictions. But they (United) couldn’t let me take it. It’s not United’s fault, though, because if it’s a banned substance, there is nothing you can do. They were protecting me from being banned.”
Finally, Morrison went on to express the regret he feels about not being able to make it at Old Trafford as a youngster.
Reflecting on his time at United he said, “I do wish I had never left United. If you speak to Warren Joyce (formerly United’s youth coach), they all loved me. I’d always bring a good vibe, I was never negative.”
He suggested that his departure was less about his behaviour and more about a future lack of opportunities in the first team, as United were regularly winning titles and reaching Champions League finals at the time.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
