With Jordan Jones already Ibrox-bound, when Rangers announced a deal for Jake Hastie and reports emerged linking the club with Liverpool’s Sheyi Ojo [Daily Record], Jamie Murphy must have been concerned.
After almost a full season on the sidelines, was he about to be forced out? Even if that wasn’t likely, how was he going to get in the team considering the abundance of wide players available?
His prospects have recently improved somewhat, though.
Things are looking up
The Scottish Sun reports that Steven Gerrard has decided to let both Glenn Middleton and Jake Hastie head off on loan this season for development purposes.
It’s since been reported that Middleton will be joining Doncaster Rovers [Daily Record].
These developments have streamlined options in wide areas, benefitting Murphy. Should the proposed loans go through, the 29-year-old will be part of a more manageable group of wingers.
He joins Jordan Jones, Daniel Candeias, and Eros Grezda, although according to his agent, the Albania international is set for talks over his future [Scottish Sun].
Murphy shouldn’t be too concerned about the potential signing of Ojo, either. The 21-year-old mainly operates on the right, where he would provide competition for Candeias.
Should Ryan Kent return, he would put a spanner in the works. It looks like that saga has a while to run yet, though.
As it stands, then, Murphy will do battle with Jordan Jones for the left wing berth. That’s a lot more manageable than his task had looked like at one stage.
After so long out, he’ll be raring to go and the priority has to be to get a full pre-season. If he can do that and start with a bang like he did last July, there’s no reason he can’t feature regularly during 2019/20.
