Ravel Morrison

Manchester United

Morrison's first club was Fletcher Moss Rangers. He was first scouted for the Manchester United Academy by former United coach Phil Brogan. According to Rio Ferdinand, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson "thought he was the best player he had seen at that age". Morrison signed on as a first-year scholar in 2009 and turned professional on 2 February 2010, on his 17th birthday. He made his first team debut in a 3–2 League Cup win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 26 October 2010, coming on as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung. After his debut, Alex Ferguson later revealed Morrison visited his office the following morning. "Another thing about Ravel, which I've always treasured because no other young player who made their debut did it, was after the first game in the first team that he played, the next morning he came to my office and gave me a letter thanking me for giving me his debut. I was gobsmacked, The boy had a good heart." On 20 April 2011 he scored the opening goal against Chelsea in the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup at Old Trafford, which Manchester United went on to win 4–0. Morrison added two more goals in the second leg of the Youth Cup final against Sheffield United, a match that Manchester United went on to win 4–1, securing the title 6–3 on aggregate. On 25 October 2011, he came on as a substitute for Mame Biram Diouf in a 3–0 League Cup win over Aldershot Town. He then came on at half-time during United's 2–1 League Cup fifth round loss to…

Morrison was capped by England at under 16, under 17, under 18 and under 21 levels. Morrison is also eligible to play for Jamaica and, in November 2012, he was reported to be considering representing them at international level. He made his England under-21 debut on 10 October 2013, in a 4–0 away win against San Marino. He scored his first goals for the under-21 team in a 5–0 UEFA Euro 2015 qualifying win over Lithuania. In March 2018, he was invited to a training camp with Jamaica to discuss switching his national allegiance with Jamaican officials. In May 2019, Morrison was named as one of the 40 players in Theodore Whitmore's preliminary Jamaica squad for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. In October 2020, Morrison was named as one of the 23 players in Whitmore's final Jamaica squad for friendlies against Saudi Arabia. He made his debut for Jamaica in a 3–0 friendly loss to Saudi Arabia on 14 November 2020. Morrison scored his first goal for Jamaica against Honduras in their final game of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification on 30 March 2022.

Throughout his career, a number of people within the game have come forward to laud Morrison's ability. Lazio director Igli Tare said in October 2015 that Morrison "has undoubted quality and is world class, as well as being a little mad". Sir Alex Ferguson stated "My first and lasting memory of Ravel as a young lad was that he [always] got time and space. He's always available to be on the ball, so unusual for a young lad of his age." FourFourTwo writer Alasdair Mackenzie predicted that with a more humble approach, Morrison could become a favourite of the Lazio fans, who had previously revered other eccentric players such as Paul Gascoigne and Paolo Di Canio. Morrison's former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand named Morrison as the most talented young player that he had seen, his manager at West Ham, Sam Allardyce, said in 2017 that he considered Morrison to be "the biggest waste of talent" he had worked with. Writing for The Guardian in 2011, journalist Daniel Taylor described him as a player with "balance, speed, control, vision, flair, strong on either foot, an eye for a pass and a prolific scorer". In a 2020 interview with The Times, Wayne Rooney stated "I remember watching Ravel Morrison thinking he had everything required for a player in his position. He was brilliant. He was confident. He nutmegged Nemanja Vidic three times in the space of a minute in one training game. But he struggled with lifestyle and his environment which was sad for him — because I saw…

Morrison was born in Wythenshawe, Manchester, and lived with his grandparents in Denton, Greater Manchester, before his transfer to West Ham United. During Morrison's trial for witness intimidation in 2011, it was revealed that he has been diagnosed with ADHD. His club at the time, Manchester United, applied for a Therapeutic Use Exemption to allow Morrison to take his prescribed medication for the disorder, but their request was declined. To avoid a potential ban for violation of doping rules, and under instruction from Manchester United, Morrison did not take his prescribed medication for the disorder.

Legal history

In early 2011, Morrison received a 12-month referral order and was ordered to pay £1,445 in costs and compensation after admitting two counts of witness intimidation. After an assault charge was dropped when Morrison's girlfriend refused to testify, he was convicted of criminal damage for throwing her mobile phone out of a window and advised to undergo domestic violence counselling. In February 2012, Morrison was involved in controversy after posting a homophobic threat on Twitter, responding to criticism by calling another user a "faggot". He was charged under FA rule E3, which governs use of abusive and/or insulting words including reference to a person's sexual orientation, and accepted his guilt. He was fined £7,000. Morrison was remanded in custody on 31 July 2014 after being charged with two counts of common assault against a former girlfriend…