West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has said that midfielder Ravel Morrison is wasting his talent, after he told the player he is free to leave this month.

Lazio are said to be interested in Morrison, who has fallen down the pecking order at Upton Park since breaking into the first team a year ago, and Allardyce believes that the player will one day regret his lifestyle.

He told reporters: "Most young talented players I worked with over many, many years who I've later met have said 'Oh, I wish I'd listened to you'. When you meet them later in life they regret not taking the opportunity with the talent they had. It's never just about talent, it's about a lot more than that.

"You can lead the horse to water but you can't make it drink. There's only a certain amount of times you can tell somebody what they should or shouldn't be doing. If they don't want to take it on board there's very little you can do.

"It's very difficult to sit and watch such a great talent wasted. In Ravel's position, the talent is there, he just has to change his whole life and then hopefully somewhere down the line he'll become the player he should be."

Morrison has recently returned from a loan spell with Cardiff City.