On loan at Champioship side Burton, Luke Murphy remains a Leeds United player.
Every club has a forgotten man, hidden deep within the realms of their squad. Leeds United are no different, though Luke Murphy is out on loan with Championship side Burton Albion.
Murphy, 28, last played for Leeds in August 2016, before being ostracised by former manager Garry Monk who even removed his squad number in the first half of the 2016-17 campaign.
He was loaned to Burton in January 2017, before the former Crewe Alexandra midfielder rejoined Nigel Clough’s side on loan from Leeds for the entire 2017-18 season.
But he still has a year remaining on his Elland Road contract, which expires in the summer of 2019. The Daily Star claim Murphy is earning a huge £10,000 a week, after putting pen to paper on a four-year deal in 2015.
However, if Murphy held any hope of regaining a place within Leeds’ squad ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, he would have to shine in a Burton side fighting against relegation.
He arguably did that up until February, featuring in every single Championship match for Burton other than the two Leeds matches in which he was ineligible to play due to rules stating a loan player cannot face his parent club.
Last month did not go to plan for Murphy, though, as he played just 18 minutes of Burton’s five February fixtures in the league and has been left on the bench for the last two outings against Barnsley and Millwall.
With Murphy struggling to impress at Burton, there is surely no way that he can re-emerge as a prominent member of Leeds’ midfield. The Whites already boast talent such as Kalvin Phillips, Eunan O’Kane, Adam Forshaw and Ronaldo Vieira.
When the summer transfer window approaches, then, Murphy is likely to be sold on a permanent basis if Leeds can find a buyer.
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