Newcastle complete £12m signing of Norwich and England U21 winger Jacob Murphy
NEWCASTLE UNITED have swooped to sign Norwich and England U21 winger Jacob Murphy.
The fee is believed to be £10million up front, and could rise to £12m for the 22-year-old.
Despite his relatively young age, Murphy has played more than 100 first-team games during his time with the Norfolk outfit.
He actually scored twice in the yellow of Norwich last season against Newcastle, which obviously alerted Rafa Benitez to his talents.
Murphy is a boyhood Newcastle fan, and has recently starred for England in the recent European U21 Championship.
Speaking to the , Murphy said: "It was a childhood dream of mine to represent Newcastle and the opportunity is now here. I can't wait to get started."
Manager Benitez added: "He's a young and talented player and hopefully he can develop even more here.
"We hope he can show us the passion, commitment and ability that he showed in the Championship last season."
The Toon had an £8m offer for the England Under-21 international rejected by the Canaries last week.
Murphy, 24, is Newcastle’s third summer signing after winger Christian Atsu made his loan move from Chelsea permanent and centre-half Florian Lejeune joined from Eibar.
He has now flown out to Ireland to join up with the rest of the squad for pre-season.
Jacob Murphy factfile
- Jacob Murphy was born on February 24 1995 in Wembley, England
- He is the twin brother of fellow footballer Josh
- Murphy joined Norwich in 2006 and made his debut against Fulham in January 2014
- He has had six loan spells in total, playing for Swindon, Southend, Blackpool, Scunthorpe, Colchester and Coventry
- His performances have been recognised on the international stage with him winning caps at U18, U19, U20 and U21 level
- Murphy has played 37 times for Norwich inthe league and bagged nine goals
Benitez has been frustrated by the Toon’s lack of transfer progress and only this morning warned owner Mike Ashley that he better “keep his word” over spending.
SunSport revealed yesterday that Newcastle were ready to offer £10million for Liverpool’s England U-20s wideman Sheyi Ojo, who is also wanted by relegated rivals Middlesbrough.