The avid Toon fan arrived from Norwich with potential in 2017 but only played his best football four years later
Newcastle United's Jacob Murphy celebrates scoring in the Champions League against Qarabag
Jacob Murphy celebrates scoring in the Champions League against Qarabag(Image: Newcastle United via Getty Image)
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Jacob Murphy admits that he could make a Netflix documentary about his journey with Newcastle United since arriving as a youngster from Norwich City eight years ago.
The 30-year-old has survived managerial change, a Saudi takeover and some intense competition for places to remain a go to player for the Magpies. Murphy swirled home his first Champions League goal in the 6-1 rout over Qarabag in midweek and heads to Man City with memories of a goal he delicately dinked over Ederson back in 2018 - albeit in another defeat at the Etihad.
Signed by Rafa Benitez, Murphy was loaned out to West Brom and Sheff Wed between 2019 and 2020 with many fans wondering if he'd ran his race for Newcastle.
But after signing a six-year deal in 2021, Murphy has watched on as Newcastle spent millions, knowing he must find his best form to continue the adventure at the club he has supported since he was a kid, with the Wembley-born star's parents Maxine and John hailing from Birtley and Ashington respectively.
When asked to sum up his eight-year stint at St James' Park, Murphy said: "God. I might need a Netflix documentary for that, eight seasons long. It’s just one of those stories of hard work, determination, grit, and never giving up.
"You'll find that everyone has the same journey, just a different story. Everyone has hardships, they have successes, and it's up and down all the way.
"But with the aspirations to do the best you can to make your family proud, your manager proud, your teammates proud, and the fans proud. You get there eventually."
Under Steve Bruce, Murphy was recalled from that loan spell with the Owls and arguably managed to salvage his career after Benitez sent him to the EFL
But the forward credits Eddie Howe with his continued rise, Murphy said: "I've always spoken about my Sheffield Wednesday loan, how important that was for me to rediscover myself and then from there coming and playing a little bit, I started to find my feet a bit more in the Premier League.
"Sir Edward then came in, and you see what I became. Everyone's always in the debt of Eddie because he's just fantastic, brilliant and he’s squeezed out all the juice out of everybody.
"You guys can see it! I've always had a real keen attention to detail, and he helped that evolution of me. I thought I saw the game pretty, but then pictures became even clearer under his guidance."
Murphy is now the longest-serving player at Newcastle, having watched his career span the Benitez, Bruce and Howe eras. But many wondered if he was about to experience more change just a few weeks ago when Newcastle were booed off after a 3-2 defeat to Brentford.
It prompted a squad meeting with every player making it clear they were behind Howe and his backroom staff.
Murphy said: "We spoke and we knew what we had to change. It's hard when you don't train all the time because you can't implement everything you want to do. Slowly but surely, we've found a way to get back on track. That's what we're doing.
"I've always said we have to be calm in times like we faced two weeks ago. Everyone was lower than a snake's belly, I get that, but stay calm.
"There will always be reactionary responses to poor performances but we always stay level because we know our best self is- is good enough to take on anyone."
If Murphy can add a goal to his collection like he did in 2018, he's be delighted and looking ahead to the big clash at City, he said: "Yeah, the last three games is the confidence boost to show that it is there and what we're capable of. I'm not forgetting that when we went to City in the League Cup, we could have could have scored six goals.
"So it's there for us and we have to earn the right before we can take it. We’ll go there to show our best version of ourselves, which I thought we gave a great account of ourselves in the second half of that second leg. I know we can really hurt them."
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