L
ess than four months
into a season-long
contract, Ravel
Morrison’s time with
ADO Den Haag – his
11th different club in
nine years – was
brought to an end by mutual consent
inJanuary.
Morrison was highly regarded as a
youth in Manchester United’s academy.
Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and
Gary Neville have all spoken about the
midfielder’s jaw-dropping displays in
early first-team training sessions, and
Sir Alex Ferguson is said to have rated
the17-year-old Morrison as a better
prospect than Ryan Giggs at the same
age.
But Morrison became renowned for
being difficult to work with, inattentive
and a troublemaker. Brushes with the
law and the FA led to United giving upon the gifted youngster in 2012, selling
him to West Ham – whose manager at
the time, Sam Allardyce, would come
to consider him “the biggest waste of
talent I ever worked with”.
The reputation Morrison earned in
his late teens has stuck. Those who
have worked with the former England
youth international in recent years,
though, have found negative
perceptions of the player to be wide of
the mark.
“You’re expecting some monster
with six heads to come walking
through the door,” says David Preece,
goalkeeping coach at Ostersunds FK,
where Morrison played in 2019. “There
was always that feeling of, maybe it’s a
gamble to bring in somebody who
could be divisive to the squad. But
nothing could have been further from
the truth.”
“What impressed me about him was
his attitude,” adds David Webb,
Ostersunds’ former director of football.
“He was quite a humble lad.”
The misdemeanours of his past are
well known; their root causes less so.Morrison grew up in
a deprived area of
Manchester, had an
unstable family life and was diagnosed
with ADHD at a young age, for which it
is thought he was never properly
treated.
“All I can say is that it’s not his fault,”
says Tony Whelan, Manchester United’s
assistant academy manager. “And that’s
the sadness. He was a victim of
circumstances.”
Still, Morrison’s reputation has
preceded him in every move he has
made, to the point it has become
self-fulfilling. “All these managers can’t
be wrong,” said Neil Warnock, who
started the player just once while
Middlesbrough manager. As such,
Morrison has struggled to find asuitable home.
In 2015, he joined Lazio. He made
just four Serie A appearances for the
club and was effectively frozen out,
made to train with the reserves, and
when Simone Inzaghi took charge he
decided the Englishman was surplus to
requirements. Igli Tare, Lazio’s sporting
director, privately expressed sympathy
for Morrison upon releasing him to join
Ostersunds and thus agreed to waive
any sell-on clauses.
Glimmers of Morrison’s gifts were on
show during a 2017-18 loan to Atlas in
Liga MX, but he found the club in
turmoil, changing managers and with
defender Rafael Marquez facing
allegations of being involved in drug
trafficking.
A brief spell with Ostersunds proved
restorative. Morrison found a club
willing to put faith and trust in him, and
he reciprocated with his best form in
years. He finally felt part of a team,
too. He befriended the club’s kit man,
a refugee from Darfur, buying him an
iPad to use on away trips and offering
to fund travel back to his homeland.
Morrison bought Ostersunds jerseys
for young fans and mentored the club’s
young players.Released...Morrison
played five games for
ADO Den HaagYoung Devil...In 2011,
Morrison won the FA
Youth Cup alongside
the likes ofJesse
Lingard, Paul Pogba
and Michael Keane“He needs to find an environment
where he’s a key player and plays
every week”
Former Ostersunds manager Ian BurchnallRavel Morrison
The troubled midfielder is searching for the 12th club of his career
Headliners