Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has likened Sheffield United midfielder Ravel Morrison to Paul Gascoigne.

On Sunday, Derby player-coach and ex-United striker Wayne Rooney suggested that Morrison did not have the work rate to match his talent.

“I got to know him when he was in the under-9s when I first joined Manchester United in 2001," Meulensteen told talkSPORT.

“I saw something in Ravel that was the closest to Paul Gascoigne.

“He had a swagger about him, he had a way of going past people like they weren't even there, he had a change of pace, he could dribble with both feet, he could change angles, he was unpredictable.

“That was not the problem. When he was there, when he was training, he was fantastic, he was not a problem, because he loved it.

"It was when he left, when he got in a different environment outside of the club, where we all know he was not in the best of environments that could have helped him.

“I was fortunate to work with someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, and if you look at his mentality and drive, if only Ravel would have had 75 per cent of that he would have become an unbelievable player, because he had so much going for him naturally.

“It's very hard to predict, but if that mentality had been there he would have been a top, top player."