Bruno Guimaraes and Longstaff respond to Jacob Murphy’s vivid message
Jacob Murphy’s future in Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United side is far from assured despite a career-best season for the winger.
Newcastle‘s late-season charge to the Champions League places made the 2024–25 campaign one of their most successful in decades, with a top-five finish capped off by their victory in the EFL Cup Final.
That 2-0 win over Liverpool resulted in the Magpies’ first silverware since 1955 and saw Alexander Isak clinch the result with an early second-half goal from Murphy‘s cross in one of 14 assists for the winger.
Murphy added to that tally with a further nine goals in all competitions to finish as Newcastle’s third-highest scorer last term, but that surge in attacking output has still left questions over his starting place.
Murphy sends Newcastle message as replacements lined up
Newcastle have already begun to bulk up Howe’s squad ahead of their return to the Champions League with the signings of Antonio Cordero and Vakhtang Salia, but further additions are expected this summer.
Right wing is an area that the Magpies are clearly shopping in, and Football Insider revealed on 30 June that a £60million bid for Nottingham Forest flyer Anthony Elanga is ready to be made by Newcastle.
Elanga’s potential arrival would likely see him start ahead of Murphy on the right flank, but the 30-year-old has ignored that pressure and posted on Instagram (1 July) with the one-word message of “summer”.
Murphy’s post included images from his wedding and honeymoon in the Seychelles, and was liked by two Magpies players with similarly uncertain futures in the form of Sean Longstaff and Bruno Guimaraes.
Newcastle need to step up right-winger chase
Football Insider Verdict
Murphy’s form last season suggests the right-wing spot should be his to lose in Howe‘s side, but Newcastle have been on the hunt for reinforcements for a while with Murphy now the wrong side of 30.
Former scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Newcastle could turn attention to Chelsea’s Noni Madueke after their first bid for Elanga was rejected, as Howe makes his transfer priorities crystal clear.
Newcastle need more squad depth if they’re to avoid a group-stage Champions League exit akin to 2023, and with West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus also potentially in the mix, Murphy looks set to be the first player who will be displaced.