Gary Neville dipped into his pocket to replace Ravel Morrison's phone after Wayne Rooney had smashed the original to pieces. During their days at Manchester United, Rooney, suspecting Morrison had unplugged his charger to power up his own device, reacted by flinging the phone down a corridor.
Morrison, then a promising youngster, returned to the dressing room following an under-18 game to discover his mobile was in a state of disrepair. While Rooney has admitted to destroying the phone, it was Neville who footed the bill for a new one. Now playing for UAE club Precision, Morrison, 32, recounted the tale on the Undr The Cosh podcast. He explained: "I gave Rio [Ferdinand] my phone to put on charge. And they thought I went in the changing room, took Wazza's off charge and just put mine on.
"I've come in and the phone's down the corridor! But I gave it Rio to put on charge. Then Gary Neville ended up getting me a new phone because he thought it was me who went in there and took it off, which is kind of cheeky - I understand that - but it wasn't me."
The infamous incident was also touched upon by Rooney himself in 2020 when speaking on United's official podcast. He said: "I remember I smashed his phone up at one point. He came into the first-team dressing room when he was in the reserves and my phone was on charge.
"He took it off and put his on. I remember it was one of the old Blackberries which has the email on the front. I thought it was one of the other lads so, when I saw it was one of the reserves, I just smashed the phone up."
Morrison later shared his side of the story on X, then Twitter, saying: "I gave him (Ferdinand) my phone... 90 minutes later... Phone smashed to tiny pieces (laughing face emoji). @WayneRooney it's Rio's fault (laughing face), I'm sure @GNev2 played some part (staring eyes emoji)."
In his latest interview, Morrison spoke highly of Neville, who had tried to mentor him during his career, which never quite reached its expected heights. Expressing his admiration, he added: "I like him, I think he's a character.
"I think he's top. I see him a lot in Manchester when I'm back home. He's just prodding the streets everywhere. He's a proper good guy, I've got a lot of time for him. He's done a lot, [given advice], him and Rio."
Morrison left United for West Ham in 2012 before spells with numerous clubs, including Lazio, Atlas in Mexico, Derby County and DC United. Having long buried the hatchet over the phone incident, he played under Rooney at both Derby and DC.