Newcastle United defender makes January transfer request - will be allowed to leave this month

The 20-year-old defender played twice in the Premier League for Newcastle last season and has been a regular in the Under-21s side. Murphy joined Newcastle from Galway United in 2022 and has impressed head coach Eddie Howe since his arrival with his ability to play both as a left-sided centre-back and left-back.

But with Newcastle having plenty of experience and options in that position, Murphy’s first-team opportunities have been limited - particularly now Sven Botman has returned from injury. The Magpies will look to loan Murphy out in order to get regular senior football this month.

And it’s a move Murphy is open to having gone public with his request to play senior football.

“I want to play as many senior minutes as I can, whether that is here or somewhere else for the year,” he said. “I want to get as many games under my belt as possible and then, hopefully, the aim is to play here [at Newcastle] every week.

“I want to show what I can do in men's football and I feel I am at that stage to do that. A year or two ago, I wanted the same thing but I then got called up into Newcastle's first team and you didn't care about that because you were getting that experience here and training with the squad.

“I'm at the point where I need to go out and play every week, showing what I can do, but we'll see what happens.”

Murphy has had interest from several Football League and Scottish Premiership clubs regarding a potential loan move until the end of the season.