Southampton: Saints and Rangers compete to sign Newcastle winger

Southampton are reportedly competing with Rangers and other clubs to sign Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy.

This is according to a report from Football Insider, who claim Saints have shown an interest in the 26-year-old who could be available for around £3m this summer.

Murphy will be into the final year of his contract with the Magpies in July and will be available for a cut-price fee, although it would be a surprise to see his arrive at St Mary’s given that he has not set the Premier League alight so far.

Other clubs to have shown an interest in him are Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Watford and Stoke City who are all Championship sides at the moment.

Move for Murphy would not make sense for Southampton

Although Saints will be looking to boost the quality and depth within their squad significantly this summer, it is surely unlikely that Murphy will be targeted.

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The wing and attacking-midfield roles in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s setup have been taken by Theo Walcott, Nathan Redmond, Moussa Djenepo, Takumi Minamino and Stuart Armstrong this season and these options give some of the strongest competition in the team right now.

Minamino is likely to be back with parent club Liverpool for next season, but a permanent move for Walcott has been mentioned after his impressive early season form.

For Saints to add to this area, they will need to find someone who is of higher quality and has a proven record of contributing goals and assists at the top level.

Murphy has very respectable numbers in the Championship and League One but is yet to show that he can be a first-team regular for teams like Newcastle or Saints.

Contract situations with Danny Ings, Ryan Bertrand and Jannik Vestergaard and a lack of depth in other areas means that other positions will surely be prioritised with proven talent coming in.