20-year-old Adam Armstrong lost his place in the Newcastle United squad to veteran striker Daryl Murphy.
Rafael Benitez’s decision to loan out local born forward Adam Armstrong and replace him with 33-year-old targetman Daryl Murphy took a number of supporters by surprise. However, as The Chronicle reports, there was more than a touch of method in the Spaniard’s perceived madness.
20-year-old striker Armstrong was expected to play a role in Newcastle’s attempted return to the Premier League this season, partly because of his sensational 20-goal season on loan at Coventry City last year and partly because of Benitez’s desire to build a long-term legacy on Tyneside.
However, while he was farmed out to league rivals Barnsley on a temporary deal, Ipswich targetman Murphy arrived in the squad as an experienced understudy to Dwight Gayle and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
While the veteran has hardly set the world alight with a grand total of two league starts, he has proved a valuable addition, netting three goals in three games in all competitions in January and compensating well for Mitrovic’s injury-enforced absence.
And The Chronicle claims that Benitez made the call because he wanted a senior man in his squad, someone who could come off the bench and make an impact. Murphy, as well as being a useful goalscorer, is experienced and canny enough to do the dirty work.
Brought off the bench with seven minutes remaining against Wolves recently, he hassled, harried and scrapped to help Newcastle protect their 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Benitez viewed Armstrong as too raw to make an impact in the first-team immediately. And, with Newcastle top of the table, who can argue otherwise?
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