​Jacob Murphy is not the sort of player Everton should be prioritizing this summer (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images). Sky Sports’ Keith Downie reports that Everton have pegged Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy as a leading target to bolster the Blues’ forward line. The 31-year-old is entering the final year of his contract at St James’ Park, and with Newcastle set to overhaul the squad after failing to qualify for European football next season, Eddie Howe is reportedly willing to cash in rather than risk losing him for nothing next year. Rumors pressure a price tag in the £10m to £13m range as Newcastle attempts to balance their books after offloading players like Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali.
If there were a textbook example of an uninspired, late-career Everton panic buy, this would fit the bill perfectly. On the surface, the Finch Farm recruitment logic appears depressingly predictable. With Dwight McNeil likely to move on as he enters the last year of his contract, and the long-running experiment with the underwhelming Jack Harrison now exhausted, the recruitment team seems intent on adding Premier League experience at a budget price. Murphy had decent numbers for a high-flying Newcastle side a couple of seasons ago, but a closer look at his recent trajectory suggests we would be purchasing a player at the start of a steep decline.
Last season, Murphy found himself increasingly relegated to a squad role, often withdrawn early even when he did start—such as his ineffective 45-minute showing against Fulham in the season finale, or being hooked around the hour mark against Nottingham Forest and Arsenal. His game relies heavily on explosive bursts down the flank, and at 31, paying north of £10m for an aging wide man chasing one final, lucrative payday would feel like a catastrophic misallocation of the club’s scarce resources.
Moreover, what message does this send to the few bright spots we do have in the squad? The tentative emergence of Tyler Dibling on the right wing, alongside Tyrique George, presents a real chance to build something for the future. Blocking their pathway with a Newcastle cast-off who is poor in possession in his own half and offers little resale value is precisely the kind of short-termism that has driven the club to the brink of financial peril on more than one occasion.
If Murphy is brought in strictly as cheap, low-wage squad depth for under £5m, you might overlook it. But if the plan is for him to replace the output of a departing McNeil, then alarm bells should be ringing. Everton has spent years trying to shed the deadwood of 30-something Premier League journeymen; we should not start accumulating more of them. This signing would fit the pattern of our usual bargain-bin approach all too neatly.