Ex-Man Utd wonderkid 'should have been best player in the world'
Tom Weber
- 16 Oct 2023 13:43 BST
- 3 min read
Former West Ham star James Collins has voiced his belief that ex-Manchester United wonderkid Ravel Morrison could have become one of the best players in the world.
Morrison's story is one of wasted potential. Once regarded as the best player Sir Alex Ferguson had seen in his age group, Morrison would never manage to live up to his potential, instead enduring a troubled campaign that is once again at an impasse.
Snapped up by former Man Utd teammate Wayne Rooney for DC United in the summer of 2022, Morrison hasn't played since last year after it was announced - two days before the start of the 2023 MLS season - that the Jamaica international would not feature for the Washington side again, though he remains on the club's payroll.
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Morrison has played in Italy, Mexico, Sweden, for West Ham and a host of other English clubs, but nowhere did he manage to establish himself as a regular fixture. Indeed, over the last decade, the 30-year-old has only featured in 158 matches. At one point, however, he had the world at his feet.
What did Collins say?
Speaking to West Ham Fan TV, Morrison's former Hammers teammate James Collins said of the former wonderkid: "Ravel Morrison...was the best player I've ever seen. That might be a bit strong, [but] the boy was an absolute joke, honestly."
"I'm gutted that you all didn't get to see him more than you did because that boy should have been the best player in the world. He was ridiculous. What I'd seen, [Ryan] Giggs, [Gareth] Bale, he would have been on a level with them."
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"Remember that goal he scored against Tottenham [in 2013]? That was just before Christmas...so he scored that goal, won the game. Me, Kev Nolan, Mark Noble had him at the back of the bus and went, 'right Rav, this is you now, everyone's speaking about you, has seen what you're doing - keep it going!'"
"We trained Christmas Day to play Arsenal on the Boxing Day. We were in training sitting on the bus at Upton Park and he just didn't turn up...We thought we had him and his head was straight and he just f***ed off."
