Kevin Davies has stated his belief that Daryl Murphy will turn out to be a positive signing for Newcastle United.
Speaking to the Chronicle, former Bolton Wanderers striker reveals why he thinks Daryl Murphy will prove to be a good signing for Newcastle United.
Newcastle United were evidently very active in the transfer market this summer as the Magpies brought in no less than 12 new players to St. James’ Park.
Most of Newcastle’s recent arrivals have excited the Magpies’ faithful but one signing which has raised a few eyebrows is the £3 million acquisition of Daryl Murphy from Ipswich Town.
While there is no doubting the fact that Murphy is a quality player with a lot of Championship experience under his belt, many were a bit surprised that Benitez decided to sign the 33-year-old – especially as the Spaniard already had the likes of Dwight Gayle, Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic to choose from in attack.
It remains to be seen as to whether Murphy’s signing will be justified but former Bolton Wanderers striker Kevin Davies is confident that the Republic of Ireland international will prove to be a very good addition to the ranks at St. James’ Park.
The 39-year-old explained that Murphy provides Newcastle with a different option and believes that the target man can be very effective against powerful defenders in the Championship.
Davies told the Chronicle, “Another targetman can only help – you need a healthy squad and healthy competition in all positions so bringing in Murphy to challenge Mitrovic is a good move from my point of view.
“Rafa’s a very experienced manager and he likes to rotate. I’ve had some managers who like to keep the same team, as well as others who like to chop and change depending on who you’re playing.
“They might fancy someone with a bit of pace rather than a targetman for a certain game but, at the end of the day, you need to have different options as a manager so I believe Newcastle will do well in the Championship.
“In the Championship, more often that not, you’re going to come up against some powerful defenders – you need experienced strikers with a bit of muscle to deal with them sometimes.”
Murphy has scored an impressive 37 league goals over the course of the last two Championship campaigns and the veteran striker is more than capable of chipping in with a few goals for Newcastle this season.
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