Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers have joined the busy chase to sign Oxford United play-off hero Josh Murphy, TEAMtalk can exclusively reveal.
Murphy fired Oxford to promotion to the Championship with both goals in last weekend’s League One play-off final win over Bolton Wanderers. He opened the scoring in the 31st minute with a curling right-footed effort which was deflected past Bolton goalkeeper Nathan Baxter, before doubling Oxford’s advantage shortly before half time.
The left winger raced onto a brilliant Ruben Rodrigues pass before getting past Baxter and finishing from a tight angle.
Murphy’s pace and dribbling ability caused opposition defenders all sorts of problems at Wembley and his brace proved to be crucial as Bolton had no answer.
Oxford won the clash 2-0 to reach the second tier for the first time in 25 years. However, it is not guaranteed that Murphy will remain with the club to help them battle against relegation.
The 29-year-old is out of contract next month and his potential availability on a free transfer has alerted a number of suitors.
A host of clubs have already been linked with moves for Murphy, including Portsmouth and Derby County. Sources have now confirmed to TEAMtalk that Championship rivals Stoke and Blackburn have joined the race by expressing their interest in the attacker.
Stoke and Blackburn are both keen to strengthen their squads in this summer’s transfer window after narrowly avoiding relegation last season and Murphy’s free agent status make him a very attractive target.
Stoke transfers: Potters eye Josh Murphy deal
Oxford are keen to keep hold of Murphy and have opened talks with the former Cardiff City man over a new deal at the Kassam Stadium. However, they face a race against time as clubs are lining up to snare the former England youth international.
Murphy enjoyed a strong second half of the season at Oxford under Des Buckingham, scoring six goals and providing four assists in 15 games to help Oxford reach the play-offs, prior to his heroics in the final.
When asked about Murphy’s future recently, Buckingham said: “I may have had a chat with him when we were up on the gantry lifting the trophy. We’ll do as much as we can to try and keep Josh here.
“He’s a wonderful person, a very good player, and he suits the way we want to do things. We’ll do as much as we can and see where that takes us.”
Murphy is joined by Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu on Stoke’s summer wish list. TEAMtalk revealed on Wednesday that Stoke are among a number of clubs hoping to sign the 24-year-old, who can operate either as a central midfielder or centre-back.
While Sarpong-Wiredu could arrive at Stoke, the Staffordshire club is at risk of losing one of their most valuable stars. Sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk that Dutch midfielder Wouter Burger is a target for Tottenham Hotspur, and Ange Postecoglou’s side can land him for £12million.
Burger leaving will make the signing of Sarpong-Wiredu even more of a priority for Stoke.
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