Nottingham Forest are making a late push to sign Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy before the summer transfer window shuts at 11pm on Tuesday, according to talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook. The 31-year-old is in the final year of his contract at St James’ Park, and the Magpies are said to be open to letting him go.
It is the second wide-area move of a suddenly frantic 48 hours at the City Ground. Daniel Muñoz has already been confirmed as a Forest player after a £22 million switch from Crystal Palace, and Oliver Glasner has made no secret of wanting more bodies through the door before the market closes.
Jacob Murphy to Nottingham Forest: what has been reported
The Nottingham Post reported on Monday that Forest’s interest in Murphy, first floated earlier in the window, has hardened into a genuine attempt to get a deal done. Their story cites Crook, who says the Reds are “pushing” to sign the winger and that Newcastle “could be willing” to sanction a sale.
That last point is the one that makes this more than idle deadline-day noise. A player entering the final 12 months of his deal is a depreciating asset, and a club that has just spent heavily elsewhere has an obvious incentive to bank a fee rather than lose him for nothing next summer. Nothing has been agreed, and no figure has been reported. Treat this as a live enquiry rather than a done deal.
It also arrives alongside a second, separate piece of business. Football Italia claim Forest are expected to return with another offer for Fiorentina right-back Dodo, having previously been told the Brazilian is “uninterested” in a move and having seen the Italian side hold out for around €12 million (£10m) against Forest’s reported £8.5m valuation. Dodo, per the same report, has rejected approaches from both Forest and fellow Evangelos Marinakis-owned club Olympiacos.
Who is Jacob Murphy?
Murphy is a right-footed wide player who has spent the bulk of his career at Newcastle, joining from Norwich City in 2017 and outlasting two ownership eras and several managers to become one of the more durable members of the squad. He was part of the side that ended the club’s long domestic trophy wait by winning the Carabao Cup in 2025.
He is comfortable on either flank, has been used as an orthodox winger and as a wing-back when required, and his best work comes from delivering into the box early rather than from beating a man repeatedly on the outside. He is not a marquee signing at 31, and Forest supporters should not expect him to be sold as one. What he is, in the context of a squad that may be about to lose a wide option, is an experienced Premier League operator available at a moment when experienced Premier League operators are almost impossible to find.
Why Forest want another wide option
The timing is not accidental. Omari Hutchinson is widely reported to be heading to AC Milan on loan, with footage of the forward landing in Italy circulating on social media over the weekend. Nothing has been confirmed by either club, but if that move completes, Glasner’s stock of wide attacking players thins out immediately.
Forest’s 3-4-2-1 under the Austrian asks a great deal of the players in the wide and half-space roles. Dan Ndoye and Callum Hudson-Odoi are the established options in the front three alongside Morgan Gibbs-White, with Hutchinson providing cover and rotation. Take Hutchinson out and the margin for a knock or a suspension all but disappears – particularly with Gibbs-White having only recently returned from the knee problem that kept him out of the Carabao Cup tie against Leeds United.
Muñoz solves the right wing-back question and solves it emphatically. He does not solve the question of who plays in front of him if Ndoye or Hudson-Odoi is unavailable in October. Murphy, who has played both roles, would.
Glasner has been explicit about the plan
Forest’s head coach was asked about deadline-day business after Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Liverpool and gave an answer that has framed everything since.
“It will definitely be one, potentially two and probably three,” Glasner said of incoming signings, before adding that the traffic would go both ways: “Let’s see, if we have definitely one, potentially two and probably three signings, it would just make sense if we have definitely one, potentially two, probably three players who will leave us.”
One of those three arrivals is already accounted for. Muñoz became the fifth summer addition after Xaver Schlager, Ousmane Diomande, Steven Benda and club-record striker Liam Delap, signing an initial three-year contract and making clear that his former head coach was the deciding factor.
“I think that Oliver Glasner is special,” the Colombian told the club’s official website. “I have a very good relationship with him, and we did big things together; it was an incredibly special period.” The pair won the FA Cup, the Community Shield and the UEFA Conference League together at Selhurst Park. You can read the full story of how Glasner convinced Muñoz to come to the City Ground in our earlier piece.
What else is still moving before 11pm
The wider picture is of a window that started slowly and is finishing at a sprint. Two approaches have already fallen away: a move for Everton midfielder Harrison Armstrong appears to be dead, with a supporter backlash at Goodison over the sale of a highly rated 19-year-old academy product reported as the reason, while interest in Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson also looks to have gone nowhere.
Midfield remains the area where Forest could still surprise. Corinthians’ André, Barcelona’s Marc Casado and Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall have all been linked, with Bergvall reportedly open to a move Trentside. We covered the Muñoz and André state of play earlier in the window, and the André talks in particular have rumbled on long enough that a late resolution either way would not be a shock.
On the way out, Hutchinson’s Milan loan is the obvious one. Glasner’s arithmetic – up to three in, up to three out – suggests at least one more departure beyond that, most likely a squad player who has not featured in the opening weeks.
Would Murphy be a good signing for Forest?
The case for is straightforward. He is Premier League-proven, he is available now, a contract situation means the fee should be modest by top-flight standards, and he fills a specific hole that is about to open up. Deadline day rewards clubs who know exactly what they are short of, and Forest, having spent big on Delap and Muñoz, are shopping for depth rather than a headline.
The case against is age. Murphy turns 32 during the season, and a squad that has just invested more than £65m in Delap and Muñoz might reasonably prefer to put a late-window fee towards a younger profile with resale value. There is also the question of whether he would accept a rotation role, having been a regular for a Champions League-level squad.
On balance, at the right price and on a sensible contract length, it is a sound piece of squad management rather than a statement of ambition – and after a summer of statements, sound squad management is arguably what Forest need most. Glasner’s first month has already shown how quickly the fixture list punishes a thin bench: the Reds lost twice to Leeds United inside four days in August before responding with that creditable point at Anfield.
What happens next
The window closes at 11pm on Tuesday. Between now and then, Forest need to convert at least one of Murphy, Dodo or a midfield target into a signature to hit the lower end of Glasner’s own forecast, and would need all three to hit the top end.
Nothing about Murphy has been confirmed by either club, and the report should be read as exactly what it is – a well-sourced claim of an active push, not an agreement. We will have live coverage of every Forest development through deadline day. Keep across it all with our Nottingham Forest transfer news coverage.
