Paul Pogba says Manchester United had young wonderkid who was as skilful as Neymar

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Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has singled out one Red Devils wonderkid who could have reached the very top.

Paul Pogba is best known for his opinion-dividing second spell at Manchester United.

Signed for a club record fee, many view the two first team trophies Pogba won at United as a disappointment, landing the Europa League and League Cup in 2017.

There was another trophy Pogba won at Manchester United, the FA Youth Cup in 2011.

Paul Pogba on Ravel Morrison

Paul Pogba was the biggest achiever among Manchester United’s 2011 class, closely followed by former first team pal Jesse Lingard.

Among the ones that got away, former wonderkid Ravel Morrison was the player many considered the standout player in the team.

Speaking in an interview with The Mail, Pogba picked out Morrison’s prodigious talent, describing him as the best player he saw at his age, even going as far as to compare him to Neymar.

Pogba explained: “Let me tell you, Ravel is the best player of my generation that I have seen.

“No doubt. I saw stuff Neymar was doing at Santos – Ravel was doing that.’”

Pogba’s comments are incredibly high praise and illustrate the respect Morrison had from his peers.

Morrison did go onto progress from the academy and make his first team debut, but similarly to Pogba, he controversially left the club in 2012.

While Pogba enjoyed success away from Manchester United and prompted the club to buy him back, Morrison’s career has been spent trying to chase the dream.

Morrison is considered as the ‘one who got away’, a wonderkid who failed to reach his potential.

Whatever you think of Pogba not quite reaching the peak levels he could have done, you cannot argue with the very fact he spent a decade playing in Serie A and the Premier League, and winning the World Cup with France.

Pogba added that he is still close to Morrison, commenting: “He was one of the guys who sent me a message when he saw the news, he was so happy for me. Rav was the biggest talent of our generation. I don’t want to say I feel sorry (for his career) because you always want to see someone with big talent do good.

“But as players we have to take responsibility too and he knows it. He realises if he had a chance to do it again he would do it differently.”

Where Ravel Morrison is now

Ravel Morrison had been searching for a new club until recently following the expiry of his contract at MLS club DC United.

The next step in his career has taken him in a new direction, signing for United Arab Emirates club Precision FC.

Morrison has played in England, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, USA, Mexico, and now the UAE, during the course of his career.

He returned to Carrington in the summer as part of a free agent PFA squad to take on a United under-21 side.

Former star Rio Ferdinand is among those to talk about Morrison’s gifts, who claimed Sir Alex Ferguson once tipped Morrison to become one of the greats.

Ferdinand told Talksport: “Sir Alex Ferguson, I remember, he called me and Wazza over one day and said: ‘look at this kid, he’s better than you, Rooney when you were a kid, he’s better than you, Rio, better than Ryan Giggs when you were kids. This is the best kid you will ever see.”

Morrison was unable to fulfil his potential and will go down as one of the great ‘what might have been’ players, instead of simply one of the greats.