“I didn’t think it would be a big problem but, obviously, now I know.”
Former Manchester United youngster Ravel Morrison has admitted he stole pairs of boots from Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney, selling them to buy food for his family.
Morrison was a member of the United youth side which won the FA Youth Cup in 2011, featuring alongside Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard. Widely tipped to establish himself as a star in the first team at Old Trafford, the midfielder failed to make an impact amidst rumours of various distractions away from football.
Appearing on Vibes with FIVE, where he spoke candidly to Ferdinand about his career, the 28-year-old recalled how he would take boots belonging to the two first team players and sell them on.
“Obviously I was on a scholar’s wage, I was young,” Morrison said.
“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 on the table at home, I didn’t think it would be a big problem but obviously, now I know.”
Morrison appeared visibly moved at one point in the interview, which can be viewed in full below, when Ferdinand read out a message about him from Sir Alex Ferguson.
“Rio, my first and lasting memory of Ravel as a young lad was that he was always got time and space,” Ferguson’s message read. “He’s always available to be on the ball, so unusual for a young lad of his age.
“Give my regards to him please. Another thing about Ravel, which I’ve always treasured because no other young player who made their debut did it, was 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 me his debut.
“I was gobsmacked Rio. The boy had a good heart, he was just beaten by his background.”
