Rooney’s reason for smashing up Morrison’s phone in Man Utd dressing room – Footymercato.com

Wayne Rooney smashed Ravel Morrison’s phone after the former England international noticed his had been taken off charge, with the youngster’s plugged in in its place.

Morrison was regarded as one of the brightest talents coming through the United academy when he was a teenager. However, the midfielder, who was part of the Red Devils side that won the FA Youth Cup in 2011, made just three first-team appearances at Old Trafford.

During his time at United, Morrison once saw his phone shattered. This was because he was in the reserve team and stole a charger from Rooney – something which angered the former Red Devils forward.

“I think with the younger players obviously it’s been well documented with Ravel Morrison,” Rooney told the Man Utd podcast back in 2020. “He was brilliant in training but he had a few issues and it halted his career. We all thought he’d be top-level.

“Everyone could see those issues would be there and quite a few people tried to [intervene]. I spoke to him and smashed his phone up at one point.

“He came into the first-team dressing room when he was in the reserves and my phone was in charge so he took it off and put his on. It was one of the old BlackBerry phones and it had your email address on the front so I thought it was one of the other lads.

“When I saw it was one of the reserve players at the time I just smashed his phone up. Gary Neville was trying to get him to live with him so people were trying different things.”

Morrison responded on Twitter at the time. “@RioFerdy5 put my phone on charge for me, I had a U18s game,” he tweeted. “On the way out I gave him my phone… 90 minutes later, phone smashed to 90 pieces! @WayneRooney it’s all Rio’s fault. I wouldn’t come in and take your phone off charge. I’m sure @GNev2 played some part.”

Having left United to join West Ham on a permanent deal in January 2012, Morrison’s career slowly declined. He spent some time on loan at Birmingham, Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff before moving to Lazio after making just 24 appearances at the Hammers.

Morrison then played for several other clubs before reuniting with Rooney at Derby in 2021. He played 38 matches for the Rams during a difficult campaign and joined DC United at the end of that season. However, Morrison was left out of the DC squad for the 2023 campaign.

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