The Sheffield United player England legend thinks is better than Paul Pogba

Morrison moved to Bramall Lane on a short-term deal at the beginning of the season, as United prepared for their first taste of Premier League football since 2007.

But after failing to command a regular place in Chris Wilder’s starting eleven, the 27-year-old is now on loan at Championship club Middlesbrough with United unlikely to renew his deal when it expires at the end of the present campaign.

After working with Morrison at Manchester United, Rooney initially thought Morrison was destined to become one of the game’s greats. But he suspects his former team mate’s chequered past off the pitch has prevented him from making the most of his talents.

Writing in his column for a national newspaper, Rooney said: I remember watching Ravel Morrison thinking he had everything required for a player in his position.

“He nutmegged Nemanja Vidic three times in the space of a minute in one training game.

“But he (Morrison) struggled with his lifestyle and his environment which was sad for him, because I saw Paul Pogba come through, Jesse Lingard - all these players - and Ravel was better than any of them by a country mile.”

After progressing through Old Trafford’s youth system, Morrison joined West Ham in 2012 before embarking upon a nomadic career encompassing spells with clubs including Birmingham City, Queens Park Rangers, Lazio and Ostersund before heading to United.

He made only four appearances before dispatched to the Riverside in January, where he is scheduled to spend the remainder of the campaign.

Rooney, now of Derby County, added: “He (Morrison) is proof that you can’t escape the fact there are guidelines every player has to obey in professional football.

“Then you think how far you can go by being ultra-professional. Gary Neville, for instance. Gary's not a great football player but he worked in every minute of every training session and made the most of everything he had.”

An important message:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, please purchase a copy of our newspapers or subscribe to thestar.co.uk.

The coronavirus lockdown is having a major impact on many of our local advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive. That means we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers and subscribe to our website during this crisis.

Stay safe and take care. Thank you, James.