Newcastle United signed the youngster in the summer but he has barely featured thus far.
Newcastle United may have taken their time bringing new players to St. James’ Park this summer but they ultimately pulled off some impressive business, with Florian Lejeune, Mikel Merino and Joselu all impressing in the early weeks of the campaign.
However, one new addition yet to prove his worth to the Newcastle faithful is Jacob Murphy, signed from Norwich City after nine goals and nine assists in 43 appearances but struggling for minutes at the Magpies.
So far, the Newcastle winger has managed only four appearances, two of which have been for the briefest of cameos against Huddersfield Town and West Ham United.
The problem for Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez is that a regular starter out wide, Christian Atsu, is not performing to his best and this would be the ideal chance for Murphy to prove his worth.
But is he a sufficient upgrade on a below-par Atsu, or is there a lot of work to do in the months ahead before Murphy is trusted to replace a player not exactly pulling up trees himself?
Atsu has featured in all Newcastle’s league matches to date, yet he has done little to justify his inclusion in recent weeks, with his performance against Liverpool particularly disappointing.
Still, the Ghana international played the entire match while Murphy watched on from the side-lines, and it will be interesting to see how the 22-year-old reacts in the weeks ahead.
Murphy should be pushing as a viable alternative when Atsu fails to make an impact, but for now it seems he is not an upgrade on the former Chelsea man, nor even a viable alternative when Newcastle need to shake things up.
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