Rio Ferdinand was full of praise for Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy on his recent podcast, lauding him for his commitment given his difficult journey to the top.
Jacob Murphy appeared on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE podcast on Monday and Ferdinand wasted no time in showing love to the 28-year-old Newcastle winger: “I’ve known Murph since he was a kid at Norwich, he hasn’t had the easiest most perfect route to the top to playing in the Premier League. What I have noticed is a resilience and a mental strength that a lot of young players can take a lot of information from and understand that it’s not all going to be rosy, there’s going to be bumps in the road on the way to the Premier League.
“His commitment to training, his commitment to extras and his commitment to the club can never be questioned and you can see that in his performances. Every time he comes onto that pitch he impacts the game in a positive way. And a lot of it is down to a lot of hard work, not just physically but mentally. I have to say he’s one of the best kids I’ve worked with in that sense.”
Murphy is currently keeping £45m Anthony Gordon out of the side
In typical Jacob Murphy fashion, he was quick to make a joke out Rio’s praise saying: “Cheers Rio, give me your bank details I’ve got to send you some money after that.”
It’s a fair assessment by Rio, though. Murphy has had a turbulent time at Newcastle. He arrived for £12million with a bags of promise but never really lived up to his potential. We’d see occasional flashes of brilliance from him, the odd dangerous cross, or a wonder goal out of nothing, but so often we’d see him run down blind alleys or shooting when he should pass.
However, lately, he’s starting to actually think about what he’s doing on the pitch. He’s playing with more belief and more purpose. He kept Anthony Gordon out of the starting lineup on Sunday on merit thanks to his previous performances.
Murphy is an ever-present for Eddie Howe
Murphy is a key man under Eddie Howe having featured in some way in almost every game this season. It was recently said that Murphy is outstanding in training but seems to lack the belief in himself to replicate that level when it matters.
Since that report came out, however, Murphy has started to gain that belief and it’s really starting to show on the pitch. For me, he would have been one of the first out the door in the summer, but now I’m not sure we should be losing him at all.
There aren’t many who work as hard as Murphy does on the pitch for Newcastle, and now he’s starting to add quality to his intensity, he could become a huge player for Newcastle as we kick on. While it may not be as exciting as bringing in a £100million winger like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Murphy is already on the books, he knows the Premier League and we could use that money elsewhere.
It’s definitely going to be worth keeping an eye on his progress as the season races to an end.
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