Rangers have reportedly been joined by Watford in the race for Rushian Hepburn-Murphy.
According to Sunday’s edition of The Sun, Watford have joined Rangers in the race to sign Aston Villa forward Rushian Hepburn-Murphy at the end of the season.
Hepburn-Murphy, 18, has come up through the ranks at Villa Park having joined his hometown club at the age of just eight, and he’s long been tipped for a bright future.
General view of Villa Park
A regular for Villa’s development squad and an England youth international, Hepburn-Murphy looks to have a bright future ahead of him – but he’s only made three first-team appearances for Villa so far.
There is real concern that the young attacker could choose to leave Villa Park given that his contract expires at the end of the season, and clubs appear to be queueing up for his signature.
Rangers manager Mark Warburton
The Daily Mail reported last week that Rangers are hoping to sign Hepburn-Murphy on a pre-contract agreement in January, as the compensation paid by Scottish clubs would be much less than whatever English clubs would have to pay – a loophole Rangers exploited over the sumer by signing Jordan Rossiter and Joe Dodoo from Liverpool and Leicester City respectively.
However, Mark Warburton’s men don’t appear to be alone in the race. In fact, it’s one of Warburton’s former clubs, Watford, who are reportedly set to rival Rangers for Hepburn-Murphy’s signature.
Watford’s Vicarage Road
The Sun (Sunday, 06/11/2016) reported that Watford are keen to land Hepburn-Murphy as they believe they can land a young English striker in a bargain deal at the end of his contract, as they did when they signed Jerome Sinclair from Liverpool over the summer.
Villa boss Steve Bruce told the Birmingham Mail over the weekend that he wants to keep Hepburn-Murphy at the club, but with limited first-team opportunities and interest from elsewhere, it may be hard for Villa to keep hold of him.
Who do you think Hepburn-Murphy will be playing for next season?
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