West Ham and QPR had player hailed as ‘the best since Gascoigne’ – here’s where he ended up | OneFootball

Ravel Morrison was once one of the most highly-rated prospects in England but the former QPR and West Ham man failed to deliver on his potential.

Plenty of players and clubs have regrets over players in their past failing to fulfil their potential and perhaps no talent was greater wasted than that of Ravel Morrison.

Once hailed as 'the best since Gascoigne' by Lee Clark and repeatedly lauded for his ability by Rio Ferdinand, the idea of 'what could have been' is ever so pertinent with Ravel Morrison.

From viral clips of goals scored in England U21 training to genuinely mesmerising moments and goals scored in the Premier League, Ravel Morrison is believed to have been one of the brightest prospects England has ever produced.

However, his career never consistently hit the heights that it perhaps should have done and his story has continued elsewhere - far from where it began and should have thrived.

Ravel Morrison showed his talent at West Ham and QPR

Having come through the academy at Manchester United, Ravel Morrison managed just three first-team appearances for The Red Devils in the League Cup in the 2011-12 season, despite being viewed as a 'wonderkid' and liked by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Having shone in United's youth setup alongside Paul Pogba, who would depart Old Trafford that summer, Morrison left United in January 2012 for Sam Allardyce's West Ham United - with Ferguson suggesting a move away from Manchester was required for Morrison.

At West Ham, he was on the periphery of things initially, making just one appearance for The Hammers as they won promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs.

He then subsequently joined Birmingham City for the 2012-13 season and for the first time in professional football began to show signs of what he was capable of, despite some issues with Clark while at St Andrew's.

Upon his return to Upton Park in the 2013-14 campaign, a more mature and physically robust Morrison shone in the first half of the campaign and scored perhaps his most famous goal against Tottenham Hotspur in a 3-0 win at White Hart Lane, which eventually won the club's Goal of the Season award.

Inconsistency led to him being farmed out on loan again, though, by February; this time moving across the capital city and joining Queens Park Rangers on an initial 93-day loan.

That was eventually extended to the end of the season as he helped Harry Redknapp's Hoops win the Championship play-offs, albeit as an unused substitute in the final, having scored six goals in 16 appearances for The R's since arriving on the temporary basis.

However, his tally of nine club goals that season was not to be a sign of things to come and him to develop but more than complete representation of 'what could have been' as it remained his best season - and that still involved him being shipped out.

Ravel Morrison got a huge chance at Lazio

After further questions over his attitude, exacerbated by Sam Allardyce's public questioning of it, Morrison moved on from West Ham and moved on loan to Cardiff City in 2014.

Another case of 'what could have been', Morrison earned the Man of the Match on debut but it would be his only start for The Bluebirds before Russell Slade said he had no future in South Wales.

Despite that, the comparisons to Paul Gascoigne once made by Lee Clark came full circle as Morrison signed for Serie A giants Lazio, once the home of 'Gazza'.

Morrison began life well in pre-season in Rome and featured early on in UEFA Champions League qualification but then barely got a kick for the rest of his time at Stadio Olimpico, where he eventually made just eight appearances in the four years where he was permanently contracted to the Italians.

In the final two and a half of those four years, Morrison was shipped out on loan to QPR again then Club Atlas in Liga MX before a permanent departure for Ostersund, with whom Graham Potter had just departed to join Swansea City.

Morrison returned to England, offered a shock chance in the top-flight by Chris Wilder at Sheffield United but he managed just one Premier League appearance before being loaned out to Middlesbrough.

The journeyman end to Ravel Morrison's career

After half a season at 'Boro, Morrison has gone on to experience a nomadic final few years to his career with short stints at ADO Den Haag just after the departure of Alan Pardew, and then DC United.

In between that, he did manage 36 Championship appearances for Derby County as The Rams succumbed to relegation under the management of Wayne Rooney.

Playing in a deeper position and with some added maturity, Morrison did perhaps give a glimpse as to how the previous could and should have turned out.

Since leaving Pride Park in 2022, Morrison has moved to the Middle East and played for Precision FC and now into his second season with the Arabian Falcons in the second-tier of United Arab Emirates football.

Playing at such a low level under Jonjo Shelvey as his manager is perhaps the bizarre and random inevitable conclusion to a career that had promised so much.