Newcastle complete Jacob Murphy capture

Newcastle (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Newcastle United have wrapped up the signing of England under-21 international winger Jacob Murphy from Championship side Norwich City for a reported fee of £12 million (13.6 million euros, $15.6 million), the club confirmed Wednesday.

The Magpies had a bid for the 22-year-old accepted by Norwich on Monday, and Murphy has now completed his switch to the club he supported as a boy.

Murphy is the Premier League club’s third close-season signing following the arrivals of Florian Lejeune and Christian Atsu, and has now joined his new team-mates at their pre-season training camp in Ireland. 

“It was a childhood dream of mine to represent Newcastle and the opportunity is now here. I can’t wait to get started,” said the winger.

The length of his contract hasn’t been disclosed by either club, but Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez hopes that Murphy can flourish in the north-east, where his parents were raised.

“He’s a young and talented player and hopefully he can develop even more here,” said the former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager.

“We hope he can show us the passion, commitment and ability that he showed in the Championship last season.”

Murphy scored 10 times for the Canaries last season — including twice against Newcastle — in 41 appearances.