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Ravel Morrison Stole Wayne Rooney And Rio Ferdinand's Boots And Sold Them To 'Put Food On The Table'

Ravel Morrison Stole Wayne Rooney And Rio Ferdinand's Boots And Sold Them To 'Put Food On The Table'

Ravel Morrison opened up about some of his mistakes in a podcast Rio Ferdinand.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Ravel Morrison has revealed he stole Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand's boots when he was a youngster at Manchester United.

Morrison was described by Sir Alex Ferguson as the best teenager he had ever seen and had rave reviews from United's first-team stars.

But there will always be an overriding feeling that he never fulfilled his potential. In a open, honest interview with Ferdinand on his 'FIVE' podcast, the 28-year-old talked about his off-the-field problems.

Admitting he wished he worked harder and wasn't late for training on a regular basis, Morrison also confessed he used to nick Rooney and Ferdinand's boots from the training ground.

He would then sell the boots so he could put "some food on the table".

"Remember I got kicked out of the changing room for thieving your boots?" Morrison told Ferdinand, who thought he would take the boots to show off to his friends.

"Obviously I was on a scholar's wage, 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 your family a Chinese or something.

"You guys used to get like 30 pairs of boots. I didn't mean it to cause so much harm but when I used to see yours or [Wayne] Rooney's deliveries, you'd get 20-30 pairs at a time, I was thinking one pair to 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."

Back in November, Rooney told a story on the UTD Podcast about the time he smashed Morrison's Blackberry because he had put his phone in charge instead.

That prompted Morrison to weigh in and joke that Ferdinand and Gary Neville were to blame.

United's record goalscorer Rooney has gone on record to say that Morrison was better than his fellow FA Youth Cup winning teammates Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard "by a country mile".

Prior to this interview, Ferdinand sent a text to his former manager Ferguson asking for him to sum up Morrison in five words.

Image: PA
Image: PA

He ended up sending a long paragraph that left Ferdinand on the verge of tears.

"He text me back this: 'Rio, my first and last impression of Ravel as a young lad was he has always got time and space." Ferdinand said.

"Always available to be on the ball. So unusual for a lad of his age. Give my regards to him, please.

"Another thing about Ravel which I've always treasured, which no other player who made their debut did it, after the first game in the first team that he played, the next morning he came to my office and gave me a letter thanking me for giving him his debut. I was gobsmacked, Rio.

"'The boy had a good heart. He was just beaten by his background."

Despite his obvious talent, Morrison only made three first-team appearances for United and ending up moving to West Ham United in 2012.

Having been released by Dutch side Ado Den Haag in January just four months after joining, he's now searching for the twelfth club of his career.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Morrison has had spells with Birmingham City, QPR (twice), Cardiff City, Lazio, Mexican outfit Atlas, Ostersunds, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough.

His stint in the game will always beg the question, 'What if?'.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Football, Manchester United, Ravel Morrison