Jacob Murphy transfer decision haunts Newcastle as his in-depth stats vs Leeds emerge

Jacob Murphy looked bound to bring his nine-year association with Newcastle United to an end during the summer.

Nottingham Forest saw multiple bids for the 31-year-old winger rejected, having returned with a £15million offer after seeing £10m turned down.

The entire situation was pretty baffling for both sets of supporters, but the most surprising thing of all was that the Magpies didn't accept the money.

Murphy was a key figure at St James' Park during the 2024-25 campaign, notching nine goals and 14 assists, but last season was disappointing.

And now, the veteran winger is likely to spend much of 2026-27 on Matthias Jaissle's bench, with multiple attackers ahead of him.

He was given a chance to impress against Leeds United on Monday, 14 September, but much like the rest of his teammates, Murphy had a night to forget.

Jacob Murphy fails to impress vs Leeds United

Jaissle's side were thumped 4-1 under the lights at Elland Road, meaning that Newcastle are sitting 12th in the Premier League table after four games.

Although the Magpies did get on the scoresheet finally through Bazoumana Toure, there was very little to like about the performance.

And Murphy will seriously struggle to take any positives from his 57 minutes on the pitch, even picking up a yellow card for a foul on Gabriel Gudmundsson.

In 57 minutes, he only completed 57 per cent of his passes, created no chances, had zero shots, was dispossessed twice and won just 38 per cent of his ground duels [FotMob].

The Magpies' No.23 also won just 50 per cent of his aerial duels, was dribbled past once, and only completed 50 per cent of his dribbles, failing to state his case to the new manager.

What does the future hold for the Newcastle veteran?

After Newcastle decided against offloading the winger during the summer, the team behind the scenes are left with a huge decision on his future.

The 31-year-old has less than 12 months left on his deal at St James' Park, with time running out for him to renew ahead of the 2027-28 campaign.

Football Insider does understand, however, that should he impress Jaissle over the coming months, a new contract is not out of the question.

Newcastle do appear to be going in a different direction with their transfer tactics, though, which is likely to be bad news for the veteran winger.