Morrison was described by Sir Alex Ferguson as the best teenager he has ever seen and had strong reviews from United first team stars.
But there will always be a strong feeling that he has not achieved his potential. In an open, honest interview with Ferdinand on his podcast ‘FIVE’, the 28-year-old talked about his problems off the field.
Acknowledging that he wanted to work harder and was not late for regular training, Morrison also admitted that he used to wear Rooney and Ferdinand shoes from the training ground.
He would then sell the boots until he put “some food on the table”.
“Remember that I was kicked out of the dressing room for throwing your shoes?” Morrison told Ferdinand, who thought he would give the boots to his friends.
“Obviously I was on a pupil’s salary, I was young.
“You used to get like £ 250 for a pair of boots. You take two pairs of boots, you get £ 500 and you go home and buy a Chinese or something for your family.
“Your boys used to get like 30 pairs of shoes. I didn’t mean it would do so much harm just when I saw your own or [Wayne] Rooney delivery, you would get 20-30 pairs at a time, I thought one pair would put some food or money on the table at home, I didn’t think it would be a big problem but obviously now I know. ”
That made Morrison stress and joke that Ferdinand and Gary Neville were to blame.
Prior to this interview, Ferdinand texted his vice-manager Ferguson asking him to summarize Morrison in five words.
5 hours ago“He texted me back to this:‘ Rio, my first last impression of Ravel as a young boy was whether he ever got time and space. ’” Ferdinand said.
“Always available to be at the ball. So weird for a boy his age. Give him my greetings, please.
“Another thing about Ravel that I was always on finances, that no other player who did it the first time did, after the first game in the first team he played, the next morning he came to the my office and gave me a letter thanking me for giving him his first visit. I was gobsmacked, Rio.
“‘The boy had a good heart. He was beaten by his backfield.”
Despite his obvious talent, Morrison made just three first-team appearances for United and completed his move to West Ham United in 2012.
Morrison has cast spells with Birmingham City, QPR (twice), Cardiff City, Lazio, Atlas Mexico clothing, Ostersunds, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough.
His spear in the game always raises the question, ‘What if? ‘.