Leeds want to sign Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy
Leeds United are interested in signing Newcastle winger Jacob Murphy this summer, according to The Sun.
The 26-year-old is attracting the attention of an array of clubs, including Southampton, Burnley and Watford, as well as Bayer Leverkusen.
It is believed the surge in interest has been sparked by Newcastle’s failure to open contract talks with Murphy, despite the Magpies planning to do so at the beginning of the month [The Sun].
Murphy’s current deal at St. James’ Park expires in 2022, and because of that he is valued at just £6million.
Squad player?
Leeds’ right flank is very strong already with Luke Ayling and Raphinha both undroppable, but we lack cover for that pair.
And when Raphinha was injured recently we lacked a spark on the right-hand side.
Helder Costa has shown he is not really good enough for the Premier League and it would be useful to sign Murphy as his replacement, as we should be looking to sell Costa.
Murphy possesses good pace and with better direction from Marcelo Bielsa he could become more of an attacking threat than he is currently.
His ability to play at right wing-back is another advantage to bringing him in – The Times journalist Henry Winter described Murphy’s recent right wing-back display against Tottenham as “outstanding”, via Twitter.
A return of 1.6 dribbles and 1.4 tackles per game this year [WhoScored] shows Murphy is well-rounded.
He is also blessed with pace, clocking a top speed of 36.5 km/h this term, which is the fourth highest speed of any player in the Premier League in 2020/21, per Sky Sports.
We do not expect Murphy to play in a defensive role if he signs, due in part to the fact Ayling is rarely unavailable.
Instead, he can act as an understudy to Raphinha and could thrive in the role of an impact sub, similar to the job Ian Poveda has provided this season.
In other Leeds United news, Leeds hero may have played his last game for the club after Bielsa comments on Saturday development.