Newcastle United winger and former £12m man Jacob Murphy is open to a move to Rangers, according to a report.
The Glasgow Times believe that the 25-year-old winger is attracted to the prospect of moving to Ibrox and working under Steven Gerrard but the Magpies want him to fight for his place.
The wide-man – for whom Newcastle spent £12m to bring to St. James’ Park from Norwich in 2017 – has impressed in spells during pre-season in the English northeast.
However, Murphy faces stiff competition to break into the Newcastle United side with the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin, Miguel Almiron and now Ryan Fraser ahead of him in the pecking order.
Having spent last season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday the Toon are reportedly willing to let the winger fight for his place with the option of moving him on in January if things don’t work out.
It is understood that Steve Bruce and Newcastle may even be more open to a loan move then with the player’s contract to expire at the end of this season.
It’s not clear if this would suit Rangers – who were originally linked to the player by the Daily Record – after comments made by Steven Gerrard.
The Ibrox gaffer suggested his recruitment drive would need to be stepped up after injuries to several key players.
“I’ve been really clear that we need to add so I think we maybe need to try to accelerate that,” said Gerrard.
“Going off what I have just seen in the treatment room, there’s definitely going to be two, if not three, missing for a couple of weeks. We need to add pretty quickly so that our numbers are OK.”
The Glasgow Times report also credits Bournemouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest with an interest in the player.
