Newcastle manager Steve Bruce admits there is interest in winger Jacob Murphy, but says that he will look at the 25-year-old before deciding whether or not to let him leave St James’ this summer.
Having joined the Magpies from Norwich for a reported £10million back in the summer of 2017, Murphy has failed to really make much of an impact at St James’, struggling for opportunities in the Premier League, before spending the last season-and-a-half back in the Championship on loan with West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday.
It has recently been reported that Wednesday are keen to bring Murphy back to Hillsborough on loan for next season, with several other Championship clubs also credited with an interest in the winger.
However, it seems as though Bruce is ready to give Murphy a chance to prove himself at Newcastle this summer, as when discussing the player’s future the Magpies boss told The Chronicle: “Jacob has trained with us the last few days.
“He probably thinks to himself he hasn’t had a fair crack of the whip. Certainly, I haven’t seen a great deal of him. I’ll be interested to see how he does.
“I know he had a really good spell at Sheffield Wednesday last year and did very well.”
Despite that, Bruce did seem to confirm that interest from the Championship in Murphy, and it appears a return to the Championship is not completely out of the question for the winger just yet, as he continued: “They (Sheffield Wednesday) think the world of him. He did very, very well and would like him back, that’s fair to say.
“I am going to take my time with him and have a look. We have plenty time with it to see what the next step is.
“He has had a successful loan and looks like he’s developed a bit, so we will see what he will do.”
Having looked more impressive with Sheffield Wednesday last season, it certainly seems as though this is a sensible approach for Bruce to take with regards to Murphy.
If he has now made a breakthrough in his game during that stint at Hillsborough, then you can understand Newcastle trying to benefit from that this season, given it could be hard for them to bring in new signings this summer.
However, with the transfer market running for some time after the season starts, there will still be time to find a loan for Murphy for the campaign if it becomes apparent that the Premier League remains a step too far during the early exchanges in the coming weeks.