With the end of the season, and therefore the summer transfer window fast approaching, there has been a lot of speculation about which teams will be relegated from The Premiership, which teams will be promoted from The Championship, which players are on the move etc. But on the lips of many of the Hammers fans, the unanswerable question remains; where will Ravel Morrison be for the start of next season?
The ex-Manchester United attacking midfielder had previously been compared to the likes of Paul Scholes back in January 2012, and although The Red Devils sold him to West Ham, everyone who was linked with the club could not speak highly enough of his footballing ability.
The issue with Morrison comes with regards to his personal life and his problematic behaviour off of the football field. He has been fined multiple times for incidents including witness intimidation, homophobia and criminal damage. Sir Alex Ferguson let the talented youngster go as he felt he was bringing unwanted attention to Man United and therefore denting their respectable reputation.
Sir Alex did speak highly about Morrison to Sam Allardyce before selling him however “A brilliant footballer, Brilliant ability, Top class ability, Needs to get away from Manchester and start a new life”.
Morrison played fairly regularly for The Hammers during the first half of the 2013/2014 campaign in which he was a fan favourite on the pitch. During this time, a derby wonder goal against London rivals Tottenham springs to mind, in a game that will live long in the memory.
However eyebrows were raised when Morrison was sent out on loan to Championship promotion hopefuls Queens Park Rangers in February 2014. There was as always, much speculation as to whether there had been a bust up between Big Sam and the hot-headed youngster or whether he simply was no longer part of Allardyce’s plans.
His performances for QPR since joining on loan have been much talked about. Having won The Championship Player of the Month Award for March and scoring five goals in the process, he has certainly silenced many critics.
The majority of West Ham fans would welcome the return of Ravel with open arms, and I just hope that he has matured since he left Upton Park earlier this year. As the board have come out and expressed that next season they hope to be pushing for more than mid-table mediocrity, something The Hammers fans are so accustomed to, the return of Ravel could play a key part in this development of the team.
The question remains as to where he will be, come August and the start of the new campaign. I just hope that Big Sam and Ravel can come to some sort of agreement and he can play week in week out in the best league in the world, where he deserves to be.