Josh Murphy has almost become Preston’s forgotten man this season but there is still a chance for the Cardiff City man to sign permanently.
With North End desperate for an attacking addition of any kind one deadline day in August, in came Murphy on loan from Cardiff.
Having worked with Frankie McAvoy at Norwich City, their reunion at Preston made sense in terms of adding a proven Championship player.
Cardiff forked out a huge £11million to sign Murphy in 2018, a fee Preston couldn’t ever get close to, so Murphy joining on loan seemed like a coup.
Sadly for Murphy, it just hasn’t quite worked out at Preston.
The wide man hasn’t been able to fit into a Preston side that has mostly used a three-man back line this season.
Not a wing back and not a striker, Murphy hasn’t had a defined role in the North End side and has suffered a couple of injury setbacks.
Murphy came off the bench for Preston against Bournemouth last weekend and featured against Liverpool in the Lancashire Senior Cup in midweek.
Ineligible to play against parent club Cardiff today, Murphy is approaching the end of his Preston loan deal and still hasn’t started a single game.
With his Cardiff contract expiring this summer, Preston could yet sign Murphy on a permanent basis for free – but that seems unlikely as things stand.
Ahead of today’s game against Cardiff, North End boss Ryan Lowe has told Lancs Live that he doesn’t want to comment on Murphy’s situation just yet.
Lowe seems coy on the subject of Murphy winning a deal, highlighting that it’s a tough time for out-of-contract players if they not in the team – just as Murphy is right now.
“It’s a big couple of months for all of the players that are out of contract really isn’t it? If you are in the team, great, you want to try and shine and if you’re out of the team, you find yourself not really having many games to impress,” said Lowe.
“And sometimes, that’s just the way it is. Murph is just in a situation where his contract runs out at Cardiff and his loan runs out with us at the end of the season. I’m not in a position to discuss all of those situations at the moment. I’m not going to do that, we will wait until the time is right. But any player who is out of contract, up and down the country, it’s a big few months for them yeah,” he added.
Murphy would likely need a great run at right wing back to earn a deal under Lowe, and time is running out for him to secure a Preston deal.