Jacob Murphy: The Missing Piece for Everton's Attack
Arne Slot will never be welcomed with open arms in the Everton half of Merseyside. That much is clear. Yet, almost by accident, the former Liverpool manager may have offered the clearest explanation of why Jacob Murphy could be exactly what Everton need.
The Blues are pushing to build a squad capable of returning to European football. They want Jack Grealish back at Hill Dickinson Stadium, they know they need more firepower, and they know their attack has been too blunt for too long. Murphy’s name has moved towards the top of that to-do list.
And the key evidence for the case comes, intriguingly, from Slot himself.
Slot’s blunt assessment
Speaking before Liverpool faced Leeds United in December 2025, Slot was asked about his options around Alexander Isak. His answer cut through any usual press-conference politeness.
“It makes it harder for [Isak] compared to his time at Newcastle but I think it is also him adjusting to his teammates and his teammates adjusting to him,” Slot said. “But it is obvious and clear that we have not the profile of Jacob Murphy, for example, available at this moment at this time.”
Liverpool fans bristled. The idea that their squad lacked the profile of a Newcastle winger did not sit well on the red side of the city. Slot’s stock dipped again. The reaction was emotional, predictable.
Strip that away, though, and the football point stands. Everton, not Liverpool, might be the club to benefit from it.
The profile Everton are missing
Slot was pointing to something very specific: Murphy is a winger who thinks first about the striker. His game tilts towards supply, not spotlight. He stretches the pitch, hits early deliveries, and lives in those channels where centre-backs hate to be dragged.
That is exactly the type of player Everton have been short of.
Last season told a familiar story. Everton ranked 15th in the Premier League for shots on target per match. Fifteenth for big chances created. Fifteenth for touches in the opposition box, according to FotMob. A team with ambitions of Europe operating with mid-table creativity.
The problem has not just been finishing. The service has not been good enough, often not frequent enough, and too rarely tailored to the strengths of the centre-forward. The numbers underline it.
Murphy’s do the opposite.
At Newcastle last season, he created more big chances than anyone else in Eddie Howe’s squad. His total of 10 big chances would have put him joint-second at Everton, level with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and only two behind James Garner. That is from a player whose role is primarily wide, not central.
Those are not superstar numbers. They are the output of a reliable, Premier League-proven wide supplier. And that is exactly where Everton’s squad thins out.
Why Newcastle’s stance matters
The growing sense that Newcastle are prepared to listen to offers for Murphy changes the picture. This is no longer just a theoretical fit on a tactics board; it is a realistic market opportunity.
For Everton, the appeal is obvious. They are not shopping for a luxury item. They are looking for players who raise the floor of the attack, who turn half-chances into clear ones, who give a striker two or three more good looks at goal every game. Murphy’s profile fits that brief.
He knows the league. He has delivered within a structured system under Howe. He has shown he can play for a side that wants to press, break quickly, and still maintain width and service. He is not the headline act, but he feeds the headline act.
At Goodison, that kind of player has been missing.
Slot’s problem, Everton’s solution
When Slot lamented that Liverpool did not have Murphy’s profile available, he intended it as an explanation, maybe even a defence of his forward line. Instead, it landed as a slight on a squad built to compete for titles.
On the blue side, the same sentence reads very differently. It sounds like a recruitment brief.
A winger who naturally prioritises supply. A wide player who consistently creates big chances. A Premier League regular who can plug straight into a side that struggles to turn territory into shots and shots into goals.
Liverpool mocked the comment. Everton might act on it.
If Jacob Murphy does arrive at Hill Dickinson Stadium, the irony will be hard to miss: the former Liverpool manager, unpopular in L4, may have provided the clearest justification for a signing that could push Everton closer to the European nights they crave.
