Ravel Morrison has admitted to being "upset" after Wayne Rooney suggested that his former Manchester United teammate failed to make the most of his talent.
Rooney declared last week that Morrison was a better player than Paul Pogba during their days in United's academy, describing his compatriot as a player "with everything".
The 27-year-old failed to make the transition into the professional ranks, though, and is currently on loan with Middlesbrough following failed spells with nine other clubs.
However, Morrison insists that it is not too late to return to the top level, telling talkSPORT: "Obviously amazing comments, especially for the player that Rooney is.
"He's probably one of the best to come out of England, so it's high comments from a high player. It makes you a bit upset that I could have gone a bit further. I should have gone a bit further.
"I'm hoping still to go a bit further. But to the likes of Pogba and Jesse [Lingard]; I think they're both great players. I think we had a great team, born around the 92s and 93s, that area of our year.
"I knew I had ability, but I didn't realise and understand... obviously these are high players and I didn't understand their thoughts at the time. I used to just go there and love playing football."
All three of Morrison's senior appearances for United came as a substitute in the EFL Cup.