London: Ravel Morrison’s troubled career has suffered further turmoil after he was remanded in custody until next Thursday on charges of common assault.
Morrison, the West Ham forward, was arrested on Wednesday and has been accused of assaulting former girlfriend Rhea Mansour, 19, and her mother, Parveen Mansour, 39, outside a Manchester bar.
The 21-year-old was refused bail at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court and West Ham are considering their next move after being kept fully informed of the situation by Morrison’s legal team. Morrison will spend the next six days in jail until he appears before the magistrates again next Thursday.
West Ham will conduct their own internal investigation when the court reaches a verdict on how to proceed with the controversial England Under-21 international. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “At about 3.20am on Sunday July 27, 2014, police were called to an address on Alexandra Road, Peel Green, Salford, following reports a 19-year-old woman and a 39-year-old woman had been assaulted.
“Officers attended and established the young woman had also been assaulted outside a bar in Manchester City centre earlier that evening and a 21-year-old man was subsequently arrested at a later date. Ravel Morrison, of Urmston, is charged with two common assaults.”
The midfielder was widely tipped to become a Manchester United regular as one of the club’s best home-grown prospects in their youth teams. But he was sold by former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson to West Ham for £650,000 (Dh4 million) in January 2012.
Since moving to West Ham, Morrison has endured a fractious relationship with manager Sam Allardyce and was sent out to Queens Park Rangers on loan last season. Allardyce had admitted earlier this week that he was prepared to give Morrison another chance to stake a claim. He said: “We thought we’d brought Ravel to the forefront of his abilities this time last season. He had a fantastic pre-season and started the season very well. That drifted away a bit and he ended up at QPR, helping them get promoted. If he gets back to knuckling down, and getting used to the discipline side of the game, then his talents are outstanding.”
However, Thursday’s events leave the youngster facing an uncertain future. The manager met West Ham managing director Karren Brady yesterday to discuss the club’s options and it is possible the player might be fined.
Meanwhile, West Ham confirmed on Friday the season-long loan signing of Arsenal right-back Carl Jenkinson. The 22-year-old England defender, whose chances of first-team football with Arsenal have been hampered by the signing of Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle United, underwent a medical on Thursday.
Allardyce had already bolstered his squad with the signing of Ecuador striker Enner Valencia along with fellow forward Mauro Zarate to cover for the loss for four months of England international Andy Carroll, who has had surgery on an ankle he injured in a friendly last month.
