After it looked like his time at Derby County had come to an end following weeks on trial, Ravel Morrison threw everyone a curveball on Saturday when he was announced as the Rams' newest signing.

Just 24 hours previous, Morrison had seemingly indirectly announced his exit from his stint at Pride Park via an Instagram story in which he simply titled 'unbelievable scenes', which many took as him describing the off-field chaos at County.

However to the surprise of many, Morrison was announced as a Derby player before they took on Huddersfield Town on Saturday but had to wait until last night to make his debut in the Carabao Cup against Salford City.

Morrison was placed in the number 10 role in a 4-2-3-1 and in a topsy-turvy game which saw Salford go 2-0 and 3-2 ahead, it was left for an enigmatic character to send the game into extra time.

 

 

 

 

After striking a free kick into the Salford wall, Morrison lashed home a long-range effort which was too hot for Ammies goalkeeper Tom King to handle, meaning that the game would be sent to penalties and the Rams would eventually succeed.

Morrison's goal got a huge response from friends and former team-mates on social media, including England and Manchester City star Raheem Sterling, who had a simple one-word response on the Jamaica international's Instagram post to what he saw the 28-year-old do at Pride Park.

The Verdict

Judging by the amount of comments praising him for his debut goal, Morrison is clearly well-liked in footballing circles and perhaps he could use his friendships with the likes of Sterling as a positive influence.

Everyone knows that Morrison has the natural footballing talent, but it's the application of it that has always been inconsistent and it's the reason why he's never kicked on from his days at Manchester United and West Ham.

Now 28 years old, it's probably too late for Morrison to have a crack at the Premier League, even if he has a really good individual season with Derby under Wayne Rooney, but he's already gotten off to a good start and it's hopefully the start of things to come.