Hull City, Sunderland and West Brom among clubs to show 'interest' in winger once valued at £11m

The 29-year-old’s career has been revived in League One under the tutelage of Oxford boss Des Buckingham. He has not missed a league game since early February and has scored six goals since his return to the side, taking his tally to eight in all competitions for the season.

According to The Sun, scouts from Hull, Sunderland, West Brom and QPR were in attendance to watch the winger as Oxford faced Peterborough at the weekend. Those watching on will have been impressed, as he registered a goal and an assist in a convincing 5-0 win.

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Murphy, the brother of Newcastle United star Josh, started his career at Norwich City and featured in the Premier League for the Canaries. A former England youth international, his stock had fallen during his time at Cardiff City.

Cardiff were reported to have forked out £11m to prise him from Norwich in 2018.

He joined Oxford in 2022 and his scintillating form at the Kassam Stadium has reportedly caught the attention of clubs higher in the pyramid. In a recent interview with the Daily Mirror, Murphy admitted he had questioned whether he wanted to carry on playing football.

He said: "There was a time where I did think to myself, 'do I want to carry on playing football?'. There was a lot of self-doubt there. 'Am I good enough?', things like that. You see it a lot from Premier League players coming out and speaking about these things now.

"But I had so many good conversations with Jacob. He had a couple of unsuccessful loans while he was still at Newcastle and then in just one season he had turned things around. Now he's loved there and has even been playing in the Champions League this season.

"Just speaking to him and getting clarity that things do change in football was a big thing. I'm so grateful for that. If it wasn't for him, I don't know what I would be doing right now."