According to reports in the Daily Mirror last week, Southampton are among a host of Premier League clubs eyeing a move for £7m-rated Norwich City and England U21 winger Jacob Murphy.
After enjoying a fine breakthrough season with the Canaries last term and then making an impact with his country at the European U21 Championships despite their semi-final exit, the 22-year-old is said to be attracting interest from the south coast outfit, Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City according to the Daily Mirror.
New Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino is likely to want to add to his attacking options this summer with his new employers scoring just 17 goals in 19 Premier League home matches during the previous campaign.
Only last summer did they do business with Norwich when they brought Nathan Redmond to St Mary’s, and they may be ready to return with an offer for another City wide-man in the coming weeks.
Here are three reasons Southampton must win the race to sign Murphy…
His performances
Following a number of loan spells away, Murphy was finally given his chance to shine for Norwich last season and he grasped the opportunity with both hands.
The winger scored eight goals and provided a further eight assists in 37 Championship appearances to become one of the Canaries’ key men throughout the campaign.
That form will have impressed his suitors, and the fact that he made such an impact as substitute for the England U21 side this summer – assisting the equaliser against Slovakia and scoring the third against Poland – will have only reinforced that and shown that he can even make a difference from the bench.
The success of Redmond
As we mentioned previously, Southampton signed Nathan Redmond from Norwich last summer in a deal worth around £10m, and he impressed during his first season at St Mary’s.
Having scored seven goals and provided one assist in 37 appearances there is certainly more to come from the 23-year-old, and Saints may feel that Murphy is ready to make a similar impact if he makes a £7m move to the south coast this summer.
While Redmond was a real threat on the left-hand side towards the end of last season, there was little pace on the opposite flank with James Ward-Prowse and that is something Murphy could certainly provide, as a starter or from the substitutes’ bench.
Fee/Potential
One of Southampton’s philosophies in the transfer market is to sign players with potential and then develop them and boost their value if they are to be sold on at a later date – see Sadio Mane – and they will certainly feel that they could do this with Murphy.
The reported £7m fee could prove to be a bargain for a player that has made a huge impression in the Championship and for his age group at international level, and Saints would certainly give him the platform to improve in the Premier League as they have done with other young players like Redmond, Ward-Prowse and Jack Stephens.
Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.
