Portsmouth manager reflects on interest in Josh Murphy as pursuit with Sunderland, Derby County, West Brom, QPR and others continues.

John Mousinho expressed his admiration for Josh Murphy as the hunt for the attacker continues.

However, Pompey’s manager emphasised the importance of respecting the transfer process as the dynamic attacker decides on his future.

Murphy is being pursued by the Blues, as well as a number other Championship clubs, following Oxford United’s strong second half of the season.

Sunderland, Derby, West Brom, Hull, and QPR are all reportedly interested in the 29-year-old, but Oxford United is determined to keep Murphy at the Kassam Stadium following their promotion to the Championship.

The Londoner’s status has risen following a season with the U’s in which he scored 10 goals and assisted five times, including eight in the league since February.

Mousinho will hope that his personal connections with the guy who transferred to Cardiff from Norwich for £11 million in 2018 swing the scales in his team’s favour.

The Blues’ head coach hailed Murphy’s talent as the transfer drive continues, following the arrival of defender Jordan Williams last week on the first day of the summer window.

Mousinho stated: “The truth is, I know Josh, and he’s a fantastic player.”

‘He had a really good back end to the season but for those kind of players, whether there’s interest or not, we want to keep everything respectful of the players, other clubs and everything else going on.

‘There is links with Josh because I played for him previously, but whether we’ve got any interest or not it’s something we have to leave alone and not really comment on.’

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