Josh Murphy all but confirms West Brom transfer bid after terms agreed at Portsmouth
Josh Murphy has revealed that bids were made for him in the summer transfer window when he was linked with a late move to West Brom.
Mirror journalist Darren Witcoop reported on 30 August that Albion were “in the hunt” to sign the 30-year-old winger, who impressed at Fratton Park last season before an injury hampered his progress this term.
West Brom were looking for a replacement for Tom Fellows late in the summer after the winger was sold to Southampton in a deal worth up to £10million.
Fellows and Murphy were the joint-highest assisters in the Championship last term, having both set up 14 goals.
However, a late effort to bring the Portsmouth winger to The Hawthorns seemingly failed.
Josh Murphy speaks out about transfer bids after agreeing new Portsmouth contract
On 2 October, Portsmouth announced that Murphy, whose brother Jacob Murphy had a spell on loan at West Brom in 2019, had agreed a “new long-term contract” at Fratton Park, extending his stay on the south coast until 2028.
It’s been a slow start to the 2025-26 season for the former Oxford United ace due to injury.
However, he returned to action at the weekend, coming off the bench for the last 23 minutes of Portsmouth’s 1-0 defeat to Stoke City.
That was the first time Murphy had played since mid-September, but the winger has now revealed that he could have ended up not playing for Pompey at all this season after being linked with a summer move to West Brom and Leicester.
“A couple of bids had come in, I was asking myself am I going to be a Pompey player? Am I not? That’s all I can really say,” Murphy told The News.
“That’s what happens sometimes in football, you just never know what’s going to happen. That was nearly two months ago, it feels like a distant memory now.
“It wasn’t unsettling, I have always been happy here. It’s nice to have interest from other clubs, obviously you must be doing something right. Everything is all sorted now, I’m a Pompey player and I just want to create something special.”
Josh Murphy’s record vs West Brom revealed
Although Murphy has been on the losing side more often than not when he’s played against West Brom, he’s still managed to cause a bit of a nuisance versus the Albion.
In six matches against the Baggies, Murphy has been on the winning side once, which was also the only time he played the Black Country club in the Premier League.
- Murphy has played against West Brom as a player for Norwich, Preston, Cardiff and Portsmouth.
- He’s won just once against the Baggies when Norwich beat them 2-0 at The Hawthorns in December 2013.
- He’s supplied assists on two occasions but has not scored against the team in blue and white stripes.
That came in the 2013-14 season when he came off the bench late in Norwich’s 1-0 win over West Brom.
He’s played five times against West Brom in the Championship, playing in two draws and three defeats.
The ex-Cardiff winger has, however, assisted two goals in those games, most recently in August of this year when he set up Colby Bishop’s equaliser in Portsmouth’s 1-1 draw with West Brom at The Hawthorns.
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