Rio Ferdinand told Copa90 that the best young kid he has ever seen is Ravel Morrison.
The ex-Manchester United defender also claimed that Morrison was even better than Joe Cole while he was at the club. Ferdinand worked with Morrison at Old Trafford, although Morrison eventually never made a league appearance for the Red Devils as he was shipped off to West Ham in 2012. Morrison played at The Hammers before his loan to Birmingham, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff. He currently plies his trade with an Italian outfit Lazio FC.
Ferdinand was quoted saying:
“Mentality, for me, outweighs talent. Look at Ravel Morrison, this guy was the best young kid I’ve ever seen in my life. Better than Joe Cole when he was a kid, he was doing circus tricks on a football pitch.
“Ravel Morrison – I’ve never seen a guy look so comfortable on a football pitch. But you can’t just have one element without the other, you’ve got to have everything. I’d love to see him have a chance again to come back and show everyone his talent. The kid was just different. Pogba, [Adnan] Januzaj, [Jesse] Lingard, they used to look up to this boy. That’s what I’m saying, people don’t realize how good he was. Them boys used to look up to him like ‘woah, Ravel Morrison.’”
Joe Cole, who is currently with Coventry City, played for several years for Chelsea and was a highly regarded star when he played for the Three Lions. However, he is set to move to the United States with Tampa Bay Rowdies at the end of the season. The boss of Coventry city Tony Mowbray has already confirmed that the 34-year old player will sign with the North American Soccer League (NASL) side when his contract expires in the summer.