“excellent” Newcastle United defender will be allowed to leave the club in January after expressing his desire to play first-team football, according to a new report.
Osula shines like a Newcastle breeze past Bromley
Eddie Howe gave several of his young stars a run against League Two side Bromley in the FA Cup third round at the weekend and they did not disappoint. Midfielder Lewis Miley, 18, and striker William Osula, 21, got on the scoresheet with superb goals in the Magpies’ 3-1 win at St. James’ Park.
Trevan Sanusi, 17, also came off the bench to make his professional debut, and impressed, with Chronicle live awarding it a 7 out of 10 for its portrayal, saying it “caused one or two problems”.
Speaking after the game, Howe praised both Miley and Osula for their goals: “What a brilliant finish from Lewis Miley. From that moment we settled into the game. Lewis played very well. He brings a lot of composure and quality on the ball.”
On Osula’s goal, which saw him skilfully cross from the right wing before curling the ball into the far corner, the England manager said: “He’s been waiting for that moment. He’s been training hard. He’s got huge potential and quality. I haven’t seen him he scores so many goals. I’m happy for him.”
Murphy decided to leave Newcastle
One young player who was not involved on Sunday and who could soon be on his way with St. James’ Park is Irish defender Alex Murphy. The 20-year-old, who was an unused substitute against Bromley, joined Newcastle from Galway United in the summer of 2022 but has since made just two first-team appearances, spending most of his time with the club’s reserves.
Murphy recently went public with his request to play senior footballsaying via The Shields Gazette: “I want to play as many minutes as possible in the senior team, be it here or elsewhere during the year. I want to get as many games under my belt as possible and then hopefully the aim is to play here every week.”
And the Gazette report that Newcastle have now made Murphy available on loan this month, with interest from a number of Football League and Scottish Premiership clubs keen to sign him for the rest of the campaign.
With Murphy signing a new long-term deal with Newcastle last May, he still appears to have a bright future ahead of him on Tyneside – Howe was also full of praise for the Irishman in the past.
Speaking about Murphy after his impressive performance in the 2023 pre-season game against Chelsea, the boss had glowing praise: “I thought he was excellent, really, really good.
“He was very composed and defended very well. I was really, really happy with him. I’ve always liked Alex. I think he’s a very good technician. But it’s really when you learn about players when you’re in this environment – full crowd, opponent Premier League. He can be very happy with his night’s work.”
