Blogs

Murphy has been worst Newcastle signing

|
Image for Murphy has been worst Newcastle signing

OPINION

Newcastle United splashed out £12million to sign Jacob Murphy in the summer from Norwich and so far that deal has seriously backfired.

The 22-year-old certainly still has plenty of time to make an impact at St James’ Park and is a young player developing his trade, but has not hit the ground running.

The Magpies splashed out in the summer transfer window to land the winger and he was their most expensive signing.

Murphy has not been able to show any kind of performances to suggest he warrants his mega transfer fee and given the money spent he should be considered their worst signing of the summer.

He enjoyed a brilliant summer with the England Under-21s side as he impressed in a team that reached the European Championship semi-finals before losing to Germany on penalties.

The wide man is recognised for being a speed demon with great technical ability and having an eye for goal.

He was in good form last season for Norwich in the Championship, scoring eight goals and supplying eight assists in the league.

However, Murphy decided to take the step up to the Premier League this season and has experienced his first taste of the top flight.

The winger has clearly not done enough to impress Benitez in training as he has featured just three times in the league so far, completing a total of 71 minutes.

He did get a full game in the EFL Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest and his lack of minutes saw him turn in a disappointing performance where he struggled in front of goal.

Murphy is struggling to get in ahead of Christian Atsu and Matt Ritchie in the wide areas, but you would expect the club’s most expensive signing of the summer to feature more regularly.

The likes of Florian Lejeune, Joselu, Mikel Merino and Javier Manquillo have all shone at times since their summer moves to the North East and Newcastle fans will be desperate for Murphy to make an impact in the immediate future.

It is certainly not too late to for the attacker to change his form at St James’ Park, but it’s difficult to see how he will break into the starting XI right now.

Share this article

TT