Speaking to the Shields Gazette, Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has explained that he did not sign Daryl Murphy with an intention of making him a regular starter.
Murphy has been one of the most prolific strikers in the Championship over the past three seasons during his time at Ipswich Town and many felt that the 33-year-old would prove to be a quality signing for Newcastle United after they splashed around £3 million to acquire his services this summer.
A bit surprisingly though, Murphy has featured very sparingly so far this season for the Magpies and with the likes of Dwight Gayle, Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic all seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order at the moment, it is difficult to see how the veteran will be able to earn regular minutes at St. James’ Park.
Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has now gone on to speak regarding the situation surrounding Murphy and has explained that he brought in the striker this summer with the intention of using him as a backup.
Benitez told the Shields Gazette, “He is not someone we had watched for a long time, but when we were looking for strikers with experience in this competition we had to pick one from two or three, and he was one of the options and he wanted to come here.
“And we liked him. We knew he was not to be a starter, but we thought he could do well because he is clever, has good movement for a target man and is quite mobile.”