Middlesbrough are one of the 14 clubs the former Manchester United wonderkid has plays for.
But Morrison, now 32, says he could – should – have also signed for Newcastle United earlier in his career – twice.
Morrison is still playing now and says he’s enjoying his time with Precision in the third tier in Dubai.
But his career hasn’t turned out as Sir Alex Ferguson, Sam Allardyce and others hoped it would when he dazzled in the top flight and had Wayne Rooney later saying he was better than Paul Pogba “by a country mile” when he was coming through the ranks at Old Trafford.
He left Manchester United for West Ham in 2012, with Ferguson of the opinion at the time the youngster needed a fresh start.
And Morrison has now revealed he could have signed for Newcastle then, and again a few years later when Rafa Benitez led the Magpies to Championship promotion.
“I could have gone to Newcastle, well I should have gone there twice,” said Morrison on the Undr The Cosh podcast.
“My agent was speaking to Liverpool as well but I don’t think that would have ever happened.”
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Morrison admits he’s not always been as professional as he should have been, but thinks he’s been misunderstood throughout his career. He’s openly acknowledged having ADHD and says he’s never been a big drinker but would instead stay up playing on the PlayStation until the early hours.
Morrison said: “I thought it was right to go [leave Man Utd] because I think I was staying out with my friends and everything, not just on the PlayStation, maybe just doing the wrong things so I thought going to London got me out of the way.
Morrison added: “Even in London I think over a period of four years I must have went to a nightclub three times. It was more that I was just at like Soccerdome with my mates. Sometimes after training I was there five or six hours.”
There were flashes of his quality at West Ham but he ended up going out on loan a couple of times before he moved to Lazio, and it was shortly after that that he again could have joined Newcastle. Instead, he ended up heading for Mexico to link up with Atlas.
“I was at Lazio and was close to going to Newcastle when Rafa Benitez was there in the Championship,” he recalled.
“But we couldn’t get it over the line. I ended up going to Mexico after that. Before I went there I never even looked at Mexican football but I loved it.”
Fast forward a few years and Morrison, by this point at Sheffield United, linked up with Boro on loan early in 2020 when Jonathan Woodgate was in charge. But he ended up making just three appearances on Teesside.
He said: “I got on with Chris Wilder at Sheffield United very well. He’s a good man manager and he’s a very good manager.
“But when I went there they were in the Premier League and weren’t really getting beat, so you couldn’t knock on the manager’s door and ask for your chance.
“Going into training every day it was still enjoyable because the whole place was such a good vibe.
“Middlesbrough, I went there and a month or so after that it was covid, so that played a big part.
“Woodgate was manager, he’s a nice guy and a really good manager. Warnock came in and he wasn’t bad. We never really spoke because he came in for the last six games. Because he was trying to keep them up, he had his team in his head. He had the team he wanted to play.
“I don’t know what to say about him, he’s a funny character. He’s one of a kind. He was a good guy. He’s a special character isn’t he.”
Morrison says he’s currently enjoying his football in Dubai but revealed he’s studying his coaching badges and wants to go into coaching after his retirement and return to Manchester United.
