Wayne Rooney struck Derby County gold with gamble on ex-Man Utd star - Pride Park saw what others didn't | OneFootball

Ravel Morrison was a maverick character - but his Derby County spell showed us how great a player he was.

Ravel Morrison is certainly a name that English football fans won't forget in a hurry.

The Wythenshawe-born midfielder was once considered one of the top talents in the country, but he never quite lived up to the enormous potential that he had, particularly when he was in the youth team at Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson was the man to give him his debut and spoke about his admiration for the player, before he was reluctantly sold to West Ham United in 2012.

After brief loan spells at Birmingham City, Cardiff City and twice with Queens Park Rangers, Morrison swapped the English capital for the Italian one in 2015 - signing for Lazio.

He struggled to make the impact that a certain Paul Gascoigne made at the Stadio Olimpico - as he later revealed that he fell out with boss Simone Inzaghi over his ill mother and was "close to saying I don't want to play anymore".

Spells in Mexico and Sweden followed before a brief spell at Sheffield United, where he hardly got a look in under Chris Wilder during the Blades' successful 2019/20 Premier League campaign.

He then went to the Netherlands and struggled to make an impact at ADO Den Haag, but an ex-Manchester United teammate was about to offer him a chance to reignite his career.

Derby saw glimpses of the best of Morrison

That man was Derby County boss Wayne Rooney who, after a successful trial period, offered the 28-year-old a one-year contract for their 2021/22 Championship season.

In what was a miserable campaign for the Rams, with them being relegated after receiving a total of 21 points deducted over the course of the season for falling into administration, Morrison was still a shining light - as this season really turned out to be one of the best of his senior career.

He made 38 appearances under Rooney, which is the most he's ever made for a single club in his senior career, and also added five goals, the joint second-most of his career.

In that Derby side, he was not always a regular starter - but having not always been one, it's fair to say that Morrison was just enjoying the opportunity to play regular football again.

One particular game was the highlight, and certainly a bittersweet moment for Manchester United fans who must've been wondering what could've been. In a home game against fellow strugglers Barnsley, Morrison scored both goals in a 2-0 victory at Pride Park - and picked up a 9.2 match rating on FotMob.

His first goal in particular was something quite sublime. He tried a beautiful dummy and executed it to perfection from Tom Lawrence's through ball, allowing it to roll into Luke Plange inside the area. He then picked out Morrison again, who dinked it over the goalkeeper and allowed Rams fans to see a moment of quality that was, on the whole, lacking in a really poor season.

Leaving Derby was the beginning of the end

After failing to agree to terms of a new deal in League One, Morrison bid farewell to the East Midlands in the summer of 2022 after only one year spent there.

However, he moved on with a fond place in the heart of a lot of Rams supporters, with some of the replies to his leaving tweet showcasing that - such as this one.

Having left Derby, he decided to follow Rooney to the American capital, though he never quite settled in at Audi Field and only made 14 appearances for DC United, but did score two goals before leaving at the end of the 2023 MLS season.

He didn't have a club for much of 2024, but signed for Precision FC in the third tier of football in the UAE in September 2024 - going on to make 20 appearances and score nine goals for a club that also boasts ex-Nottingham Forest midfielder Harry Arter and ex-Burnley defender Matt Lowton.

Despite being touted for England stardom from a young age, Morrison became a fully-fledged Jamaican international, and has scored two goals in 21 games for the Reggae Boyz.

When it comes domestically, in England, Morrison will always be remembered as a player of huge potential that didn't show his quality regularly enough. However, when it comes to Derby, they will remember him more fondly than most, given what Rooney was able to lure out of him in pretty awful circumstances for the club.