No deal agreed to take talented teenager Murphy away from Galway United
GALWAY United insist no agreement has been made with any club about a move for breakout teenage star Alex Murphy, and that in any event, no deal can be completed until the Annaghdown native turns 18 in June.
There were reports in the national media once again last week that the defender has agreed a move to English Premier League side Newcastle United, who are believed to have been tracking him since the end of last season.
However, when asked this week about the fresh round of rumours, United said that while talks are being held with an unnamed club, “nothing has been agreed and no deal can be completed until Alex turns 18, which is June 25”.
It has been less than a year since Murphy made his senior United debut in the 2-1 win at home to Athlone Town in June last year, two weeks shy of his 17th birthday. His appearance against Waterford United last Friday was just his 20th senior appearance for the club, and United have just 11 games scheduled between now and his birthday on Saturday June 25, meaning he is likely to play no more than 31 games for United.
That would mirror the League of Ireland career of Johnny Kenny (18), who made just 32 senior appearances for Sligo Rovers before moving to Glasgow Celtic at the start of this year. Kenny – the son of the former Galway United winger of the same name – was believed to have been represented in that move by Gestifute, the sports agency set up by so-called ‘super agent’ Jorge Mendes.
Mendes, a Portuguese national, boasts the likes of fellow countrymen Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Dias, and Bernardo Silva amongst his clients. The former United goalkeeper, Gary Rogers, now works in the Irish office of Gestifute, and has been seen at a number of United games this season, including the wins at Turners Cross and the Carlisle Grounds, and the home draws with Wexford FC.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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