‘Didn’t know I’m still that good did you!’: Rio Ferdinand enjoys heated two-touch battle with Ravel Morrison as Manchester United icon visits the former wonderkid he said should be worth £100MILLION at Derby training
- Ravel Morrison is one of the great unfulfilled talents in English football history
- He rose from Manchester United’s academy with Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba
- Now he’s playing for struggling Derby County under manager Wayne Rooney
- Rio Ferdinand dropped in for a visit, and enjoyed joking with the ex-wonderkid
Just like old times, Rio Ferdinand dropped in for a kick-about with Ravel Morrison at Derby training – a decade after trying to save the youngster’s career from disaster.
The great centre-back was edging towards the end at Manchester United when Morrison, the next big thing at Old Trafford, began to derail.
Ferdinand attempted to step in but, now 28-years-old, the Mancunian/Jamaican finds himself in the Championship with crumbling Derby and not the £100million superstar his talent suggested.
Rio Ferdinand stopped in to Derby County’s training ground to meet with Ravel Morrison
The former Manchester United men got into a game of two-touch, won by the old professional
Under Wayne Rooney’s management Morrison is beginning to turn a corner, and Ferdinand paid a visit to their training base.
Starting a game of two-touch, the old pro stormed into a 3-1 lead before impressively cushioning an over-hit Morrison pass – setting off the inevitable row.
‘Look at this, what am I seeing here? What am I playing with,’ Ferdinand said on his YouTube.
The midfielder argued ‘did my ball bounce?’ before being cut off by the 42-year-old: ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait. What I just dealt with there – did you see the class?
‘And what did I do? I just deal with that.’
As Morrison skulked away having been dominated by the braggadocious legend, he claimed: ‘You didn’t beat me.’
At 42-years-old Ferdinand showed an impressive first-touch in his kick-about with Morrison
Ferdinand said: ‘He’s still lying man, still lying.
‘You didn’t know I was that good still, at this age. My touch in natural, you don’t lose it. It’s like riding a bike. It’s what I do.’
Now a pundit, Ferdinand will be pleased to see Morrison finally playing regular football.
The midfielder arrived at Derby via failed spells at Lazio, Ostersund, Sheffield United and ADO Den Haag. He’s made six Championship starts so far this season and scored in the Carabao Cup, but it’s nothing like the heights Morrison was expected to hit.
Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard were in the Jamaican international’s shadow as teenagers while they rose through United’s academy but Morrison never did graduate to the first-team – as poor discipline caused by off-field distractions and personal strife eventually saw his dumped by Sir Alex Ferguson.
A question ‘what if?’ will forever follow Morrison after throwing away his talent, and Ferdinand has looked back on the midfielder’s unravelling.
Morrisons’s Manchester United days ended in disappointment as he was let go by the club
Finally looking like he’s making progress in reviving his career, Morrison has scored for Derby
‘Fergie told me to step away from doing stuff with Ravel,’ Ferdinand said on the Beautiful Game.
‘He told me the club would deal with the situation. He could have become a £100million player.
‘Ravel was chatting to someone sent to look after him, just chatting nonsense with this guy then would go do what he wanted to do.
‘It’s a tricky situation because some of these kids’ home lives are more difficult than we know about. You have to steer him. His talent, I haven’t seen a kid of that age at 14, 15 like that in my life.
‘The game comes so easy to him. It’s effortless. But ability will only get you so far, mentality and attitude will take you to the top and help you stay there.’
