Wayne Rooney: Morrison was better than Pogba
‘I saw Paul Pogba come through, Jesse Lingard, all these players, and Ravel was better than any of them by a country mile.’
FORMER MANCHESTER United star Wayne Rooney says i n his youth, Reggae Boy Ravel Morrison was ‘significantly’ better than Manchester United and France midfield ace Paul Pogba.
Rooney, the manager of English Football League Championship side Derby County, has offered Morrison, 28, who has been out of contract since January, the opportunity to train with the club to maintain fitness and earn himself a contract.
Rooney wrote in his Sunday Times column that he rates the former Manchester United youth star highly, saying he had all the qualities for a player in his position.
“He nutmegged Nemanja Vidić three times in the space of a minute in one training game,” Rooney recalls. “He struggled with lifestyle and his environment, which was sad for him — because I saw Paul Pogba come through, Jesse Lingard, all these players, and Ravel was better than any of them by a country mile.
“He’s proof that you can’t escape the fact there are guidelines every player has to obey in professional football.”
Since leaving Manchester United in 2012, Morrison has turned out for West Ham, Birmingham City, Queens Park Rangers, Cardiff City, Lazio, Atlas, Östersunds, Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and ADO Den Haag.
He last played for ADO Den Haag in the Dutch Eredivisie, but his contract was terminated by mutual consent in January and he has been without a club since.
He has three caps for Jamaica, and should have been in Orlando, Florida, with them at the Concacaf Gold Cup, which started days ago, but for US visa complications.
The Jamaica Football Federation is, however, hoping to have the documentation issue resolved, so he can join the team before the end of the tournament.