West Brom and QPR’s transfer interest in Oxford United star will have surely increased

Oxford United will make their 25-year journey back to the second division of English football.

With a victory on the final day of play, which put them in the semi-finals against Peterborough United, the U’s had an outstanding League One campaign, culminating in fifth place in the standings.

When Liam Manning left to join Bristol City in the Championship back in November, Des Buckingham became the new manager of the team in his hometown. Despite several hiccups, Buckingham has done a fantastic job leading the team into the second division.

Oxford overcame Peterborough United 2-1 over two legs in the play-off semifinals to set up a historic final at Wembley Stadium against Bolton Wanderers, who were genuine challengers for automatic promotion for a significant portion of the season.

Although Oxford United supporters are ecstatic by their play-off performance, there may be unfavorable news for one of their key players, who will undoubtedly be the center of attention after the Wembley Stadium final.

Josh Murphy’s play-off final heroics

The Yellows’ Josh Murphy had a superb end to the League One season. The first half of the season saw the brother of Newcastle United’s Jacob Murphy get very few starts in a play-off chasing Oxford side under Liam Manning. He was often limited to second-half appearances off the bench and missed the month of January through injury.

But after recovering from an injury in February, he started to feature more frequently in the starting lineup, which is when he started to show under Buckingham. Murphy went on to earn 15 straight starts in League One, scoring an incredible six goals and dishing out four assists during this stretch to propel his team into the playoffs.

In order to help the U’s achieve promotion, the 29-year-old started the last match against Bolton Wanderers and played the entire 90 minutes in both of the semi-final matches.

After thirty minutes, the winger switched to his preferred right foot after picking up the ball on the left side. Looking up, Murphy took aim and blasted from the edge of the area into the far corner of the goal, causing mayhem and giving Oxford an unexpected, but well-earned, lead.

Ten minutes later, Murphy doubled the deficit after he broke through on goal, around the Bolton keeper, and put the ball in the back of the net. Clearly, one goal was insufficient.

Although those goals were sufficient to secure Oxford’s eagerly anticipated return to the Championship, they might be his last as a yellow shirt player.

Interest in Murphy will skyrocket

Murphy will inevitably come up in conversation with a number of Championship clubs after his performance in the play-off final. Oxford is now in the second division, but other teams with larger spending caps might want to sign him away from the Yellows for the upcoming campaign.

His current contract is about to expire in June, and it is unclear if he will be persuaded to sign the new conditions that will undoubtedly be presented to him, if they haven’t already been.

As the frenzy for Murphy’s signature starts, as many as six clubs are reportedly pursuing him, according to The Sun. Two Championship clubs who are closely monitoring him are QPR and West Brom, as they aim to bolster their rosters in preparation for the upcoming campaign.

The R’s had a very bad season, but they have shown promise under Spanish manager Marti Cifuentes. Murphy could be the ideal addition to their offense as they look to get better before the next season, especially if they lose Chris Willock.