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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
It has been confirmed that Ravel Morrison is training with Sheffield United this week as Chris Wilder looks to analyse him before potentially signing him on a permanent deal.
The midfielder hasn’t played in the English leagues since turning out for QPR in 2016/17, but he has seemingly got a route back into the Premier League at Bramall Lane.
Morrison’s history
He first hit the headlines as a youngster at Manchester United. The 5 foot 9 man was part of the same youth team as Paul Pogba, but the Englishman was seen as the future star in that side rather than the future World Cup winner.
Sir Alex Ferguson once hailed him as the greatest youngster he had ever seen as Rio Ferdinand told a story about a conversation he had with his manager. “Sir Alex Ferguson, I remember, he called me and Wazza [Wayne Rooney] over one day and said: “look at this kid, he’s better than you, Rooney when you were a kid, he’s better than you, Rio, better than Ryan Giggs when you were kids. This is the best kid you will ever see.”
Unfortunately, Morrison is yet to hit the heights that were expected of him, as his attitude let him down time and again. He’s essentially had a mediocre career up until this point, most recently turning out for Ostersunds in Sweden.
Ferguson wrote in his 2015 book that “he possessed as much natural talent as any youngster we ever signed, but kept getting into trouble. It was very painful to sell him… he could have been a fantastic player.”
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Wilder’s gamble
Sir Alex said to Sam Allardyce when he signed him at West Ham: “I hope you can sort him out, because if you can he will be a genius.” While Big Sam couldn’t fix the midfielder, perhaps Chris Wilder can.
The Blades boss has worked miracles on players who’ve needed their career rejuvenating over the past few years – Billy Sharp, David McGoldrick and Mark Duffy have just put in arguably the best seasons of their careers despite all being over the age of 30. Sharp hit 23 league goals, McGoldrick won the Player of the Year, and Duffy was a key man in the Blades’ promotion push.
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Wilder has had a knack of getting the best out of players whose careers are in a lull, and Morrison could be the perfect player for him to work his magic on.
If the 51-year-old can get him on the straight and narrow and playing his best football, he could finally unlock the potential that Sir Alex spotted all of those years ago.