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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Josh O'Brien

Wayne Rooney set for Ravel Morrison reunion after comments "upset" ex-Man Utd teammate

Ravel Morrison was once tipped for greatness at Manchester United but circumstances dictated it was not meant to be for the England Under-21 international - at least not at Old Trafford.

Instead, the boyhood Arsenal fan became somewhat of a journeyman. Plying his trade everywhere from fellow Premier League outfit West Ham to Swedish side Ostersund, with a spell at Mexican top-flight team Atlas in between.

The next chapter of Morrison's turbulent story sees him up sticks stateside to join Major League Soccer giants D.C. United - now managed by a former teammate in Wayne Rooney. The Red Devils legend was recently appointed as boss of the black and reds just two years after he left them in a playing capacity.

Rooney has made no secret of just how highly he rates Morrison's ability and has previously insisted the former Hammers midfielder could have made it right to the very top of the game.

Writing in The Times just over two years ago, Rooney claimed: "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 Paul Pogba come through, Jesse Lingard, all these players, and Ravel was better than any of them by a country mile."

Morrison duly responded to the comments and conceded he felt "upset" that he didn't achieve the kind of things senior players at United expected him to.

Wayne Rooney is a big fan of Ravel Morrison ((Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images))

HAVE YOUR SAY! Can Morrison revive his career in the MLS? Comment below

"Obviously amazing comments," Morrison told talkSPORT while he was then still a Sheffield United player. "Especially for the player that he is, he's probably one of the best to come out of England, so it's high comments from a high player.

"It makes you a bit upset that I couldn't have gone a bit further. I should have gone a bit further. I'm hoping still to go a bit further. I knew I had ability, but I didn't realise and understand… obviously, these are high players and I didn't understand their thoughts at the time. I used to just go there and love playing football."

The pair have actually spent more time together than many may expect, given as well as their shared time at Old Trafford Rooney has already managed Morrison at Derby County.

The duo showed enough chemistry at Pride Park for Rooney to want to bring Morrison with him to Washington. While at the Rams under Rooney's stewardship, the 29-year-old attacking midfielder scored five goals and registered five assists.

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