The 'selfless' Newcastle United player who's come into his own
Jacob Murphy's Newcastle United career looked to be coming to an end four years ago – but one night in Morecambe changed the narrative.
In the weeks after the summer season has ended, Morecambe can be an eerily quiet place.
The day-trippers and holiday-makers have long gone as the dark nights draw in at the seaside resort.
And it was against this backdrop that one player seemingly saved his Newcastle United career under the lights at the town’s modest football ground.
It Autumn 2020, and the season had started late because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The transfer deadline was fast approaching, and a player who had spent the previous 18 months out on loan was tipped to leave the club.
That player was Jacob Murphy, who had been signed from Norwich City by then-manager Rafa Benitez in the summer of 2017.
Murphy, a pacy and direct winger, rarely got into his stride at the club in his first 18 months at St James’ Park, though fans did see glimpses of what he was capable of before he was loaned to West Bromwich Albion in January 2019.
Another Championship loan, this time at Sheffield Wednesday, followed for Murphy, and the Wembley-born player reported back for pre-season training for the 2020/21 season needing to show then-head coach Steve Bruce exactly what he could do in a black and white shirt.
A return to Hillsborough had been mooted, but Murphy, a boyhood Newcastle fan thanks to his North East-born parents, was determined to be back in black and white.
And, on a sodden and gloomy night in Morecambe, he shone in a 7-0 Carabao Cup win.
Murphy scored one goal, and was involved in strikes from Joelinton and Miguel Almiron, at the Mazuma Stadium. The only downside was that the fixture was played behind closed doors – and there were no fans there to see it.
The third-round tie made then-head coach Steve Bruce’s mind up. He was asked on the post-match Zoom call if he would loan Murphy out again.
“I won’t be letting him out on loan, not after a performance like that. He deserves to stay with us.
“He’s had a really good pre-season. He showed a great attitude towards it. I think you’ve also witnessed he’s benefitted obviously from being out on loan. He had a really good loan at Sheffield Wednesday, where they speak highly of him.
"He’s a good young player who’s direct and quick, and he’s grasped his chance. Arguably, he’s our best player tonight. Fair play to him.”
The following summer, Murphy signed a new long-term contract at the club. The length? Six years, according to his representatives.
Today, Murphy is one of the best-performing wingers in the Premier League.
Murphy’s strike in the weekend’s 4-0 win over Ipswich Town took his goal tally to three, while he also has five league assists to his name. Alexander Isak’s hat-trick goal at Portman Road came from a brilliant backheel from Murphy.
The only English players to create more goals than Murphy are Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, both England internationals.
Incidentally, Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, Murphy’s former United team-mate, also has five assists to his name.
Those numbers speak for themselves, but, above all else, Murphy is a team player.
Speaking on Monday, United head coach Eddie Howe said: “Jacob’s very selfless, he always plays for the team, really takes a buzz out of creating a goal. He’s always been that way. Those qualities every team needs.”
The club spent heavily in the transfer market following its takeover in late 2021, but Murphy’s qualities are still needed by Howe.
Murphy has improved season by season under Howe. He is a player who is capable of putting any opponent on the back foot, and his recent performances have underlined his value to Howe and a club which is pushing to return to European competition.
Mr ‘Reliable’
In a revealing interview for the club’s excellent programme last season, Murphy spoke about his “reliability”, a quality which is important to every manager.
"The manager knows what he gets from me – a detailed understanding of how he wants us to play – and for me, it's all about being reliable and being someone he can count on in any situation,” said Murphy, whose twin brother Josh plays for Portsmouth.
The statistics don’t lie, and Howe knows he can count on Murphy, who is arguably having his best season yet for the eighth-placed club, which has been looking at right-sided wingers ahead of next month’s transfer window.
However, one thing we have learnt is that Murphy, expected to start this afternoon’s Premier League home game against sixth-placed Aston Villa, is not a player to be written off.
The 29-year-old went on to play Champions League football for the club after being tipped for a return to the Championship before that rainy night in Morecambe.
That cup game changed the narrative, and Murphy’s story at the club is far from over all these years later.
And the £10million, plus £2million in add-ons, that Newcastle agreed to pay for him seven-and-a-half years ago was money well spent.
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