Why Bolton Wanderers Should Sign Ravel Morrison

According to this report in the Telegraph, ex-Bolton Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce is preparing to cut his losses and release former Manchester United wonderkid Ravel Morrison on a free transfer.

It is reported that the England U-21 midfielder earns around £15,000-a-week, which would surely count out a club such as Bolton, but the player's stock has fallen low enough for us to think it worth taking a punt.

Wanderers are a side on the rise under new manager Neil Lennon, but they still retain the pragmatic bones of the dreary Dougie Freedman days - so who better to liven things up than this so-called 'maverick' midfielder?

There is no doubt that Morrison is a special talent, the likes of which English football has been lacking in recent years. Equally without doubt is the fact that he's often in the headlines for non-footballing reasons.

Just last month, Morrison was cleared of threatening to throw acid in the face of his ex-girlfriend and have her killed, and still faces charges of assault (for which he'll stand trial next month).

All this aside, he's simply a wonderful footballer. Wasn't El-Hadji Diouf a bit of a bad lad? Look how a strong manager turned his career around post-Liverpool? He was a gamble worth taking, and I think Morrison could be made of similar stuff.

Just look at this goal, scored in an England U-21 training session

Can you imagine Darren Pratley scoring that goal? Me neither.

We are without Mark Davies for an undefined period of time due to injury (again). We are going to be without Chung Yong Lee for at least a month when he heads off to the Asian Cup tournament in Australia. We are also likely, it is reported, that we'll be without Max Clayton until at least the spring.

Eidur Gudjohnsen has of course arrived to bolster creativity in the side, but at 36 years of age he can't do it all himself.

Morrison could, in theory, bridge the gap between midfield and attack with his intricate skills and range of passing learned over the years at United.

Goals like this would be most welcome:

We do not have a lot of firepower coming from midfield. In the time since Chris Eagles was forced out of the club we have more or less lost a dozen goals a season from that area of the pitch.

Morrison's goals to games ratio is decent, with a record of a goal every five appearances throughout his short career to date.

Compare that with Mark Davies, who scores a goal every 11 games, approximately, and Chung Yong Lee who himself has a ratio of one goal per eight games.

Of course it'd be a gamble, but the benefits outweigh the negatives for me.

Neil Lennon is a strong manager, and could give Morrison the sort of one-on-one attention that, with respect, Big Sam at his Premiership club may be unable to devote. You know it makes sense Lenny.