The last time I saw Ravel Morrison he was in the dock at Salford magistrates' court, fiddling with his tie and waiting to hear whether he was going to be locked up. An argument with his girlfriend had got out of hand, her phone had been smashed and he had ended up back in court a few months after being told the next time he was in trouble he would be going to Strangeways.

Nobody from Manchester United was with him that day and it struck me as strange given the way the club usually operate. Sir Alex Ferguson might ordinarily have been expected to make an appearance, or at least send in a character reference. But Morrison was alone, bar his solicitor. He was already on a referral order after pleading guilty to witness intimidation and the district judge had told him she would personally see to it that he went down if he re-offended. Instead, Morrison walked free, and straight back into the muddled life that has now brought us to the point, with jarring inevitability, when Ferguson has decided enough is enough and it is time to wash his hands of him.

At United they will tell you that, goodness knows, they have tried everything. Or, at least, until the past few weeks when the secretary, John Alexander, rang his agent to tell him he should look for another club. By that point, one of the coaches had simply stopped talking to Morrison. His mother went to pick him up from training one day and was told, in the bluntest terms, that her son was a waste of time and not worth the hassle.

Things have turned nasty and someone is spinning the truth, given that Ferguson said it was about money and the "unrealistic" demands of a player who has not yet turned 19. Morrison says he has never been offered a contract or asked for a pay rise, defending himself on Twitter where he announced during last season's player of the year dinner that the event was "shit".

His first-team career at United amounts to three Carling Cup substitute appearances and it is terribly sad when behind the scenes they talk of him being as naturally gifted as Paul Scholes. Barcelona have asked about him. Chelsea and Arsenal have thought long and hard about whether they can get him under control. Their verdict is they probably cannot, which leaves Newcastle, Roma and Paris St-Germain among the potential buyers. It may be the best piece of business they ever do, or may be their worst nightmare. With Morrison, it is better not to take anything for granted.

On the football pitch, he plays with finesse and confidence. In court, he was described as vulnerable and fragile. The picture that emerged was of someone who acts compulsively and does not think of the consequences. The referral order was imposed after he tried to intimidate the 15-year-old victim of a street robbery out of giving evidence. Morrison never seemed to understand the seriousness of sending threatening messages, then being part of the mob that chased the robbery victim and threw a brick through his window. The boy did. He was so traumatised his family put their house up for sale.

The people closest to Morrison say some of his misdemeanours, such as once giving a first-team player's boots to a friend, are simply to please others. Items often go missing from dressing rooms and in Sir Matt Busby's time they used marked money to trap the player responsible. These days Twitter hears everything, true and false. Now we have the sideshow of Morrison tweeting Rio Ferdinand to ask for back-up after rumours about him stealing his watch. Ferdinand confirmed it was untrue. This is Manchester United meets Grange Hill.

The best advice Ferdinand could offer Morrison would be to delete his account. Except Morrison does not like being told what to do. He is not seduced by United in the way most teenage boys would be. He has grown bored of being with the reserves, listening to the shouts from the first-team players on the next field. Lesser players have moved up, which he has found hard to take. Ferguson told him he would be, too – but only if he managed three months without skipping a session. Morrison does not work that way. His life at United has become a story of no-shows, stand-up rows and other disciplinary matters. Outside the club, 999 has been called more than once. "Write what you want about him," said one member of training-ground staff, expletives removed.

What United would rather not come out is that, in court, the district judge questioned whether the club were giving him the right care. Her view was that they may not be. Equally, if it is true this is not about money it reflects badly on Ferguson, to say the least, that he should say otherwise. Morrison, who is willing to move abroad, says he has "never asked for money and never rejected anything". Whatever the truth, there are no winners in this story.

This could be a £40m footballer in a few years, if only life were so simple. Instead you just hope that there never comes a day when he is that bloke in the pub telling anyone who cares to listen that it should have been him.