Daryl Murphy all set to leave Sunderland

Jul 16 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

SUNDERLAND will finally bid farewell to Daryl Murphy over the next seven days – as they move closer to striking a shock loan deal for Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck.

Black Cats boss Steve Bruce has moved quickly to try to broker a season-long deal for the England Under-21 forward, who would provide competition for Kenwyne Jones in an attacking quintet that also includes top scorer Darren Bent, Fraizer Campbell and Martyn Waghorn.

The deal has moved quickly over the last 48 hours but Bruce is at a charity event over the weekend, therefore the transfer is unlikely to go through until the start of next week.

The same is true of Murphy’s protracted move to Celtic which, according to Bhoys boss Neil Lennon, is on the verge of completion.

A deal was in the offing earlier this summer but Sunderland’s valuation of the rangy hitman differed from the £1m price that Celtic were prepared to pay – and that delayed the deal.

However, those problems appear to be a thing of the past, with Lennon even raising the possibility of Murphy linking up with the Celtic party on their current tour of

the United States, which ends on July 22.

“We’re pretty close with Murphy from Sunderland. I think so,” he said.

“He’s quick, he’s six foot two or three and I’ve watched him for a few years. I think he could take the hits for us up here.”

Although Sunderland fans will welcome the transfer of Murphy, they will wait to hear what the signing of Welbeck means for homegrown forward Waghorn.

After a successful loan spell at Leicester he was expected to get a chance this season for Sunderland but Bruce has sent out mixed messages about his intentions for the 20-year-old.

After seeing him score twice against a Munster XI on Tuesday he ruled out the possibility of him leaving on loan – just 24 hours after saying another temporary move would be preferable to reserve-team football.

The most likely scenario is that Welbeck, who is 6 ft 1 ins, will provide an alternative to Jones, who can be infuriatingly inconsistent.

The 19-year-old is younger than Waghorn and has played in just 16 senior league games – including an eight-match spell at Preston North End at the end of the season.

But he has been hotly-tipped by Sir Alex Ferguson, who predicted that Welbeck would be in the England World Cup squad just over 12 months ago. That did not materialise but the striker-cum-winger has all the attributes to make it at the top level.

Welbeck is one of ‘one or two’ new signings Bruce expects to be in place before the Black Cats kick off their campaign at home to Birmingham on August 14.

Hopes are fading that German international Heiko Westermann can be persuaded to leave Schalke, with the chance to play Champions League football with the Bundesliga runners-up proving too good too pass up for the 26-year-old.

Bruce has held talks with former Arsenal and England centre-back Sol Campbell but the 35-year-old veteran would have to reduce his wage demands if he wants to join Sunderland. The Black Cats are still awaiting an answer from Campbell, who is a free agent after leaving the Gunners this summer and who has also attracted interest from West Ham and Celtic.

“We’re in there for Sol,” said Bruce. “We’ve had a conversation with him but we’re up against a few other clubs and we’ll see what develops over the next 24-48 hours.

Another loan move for Lyon centre-back John Mensah, who impressed last season at Sunderland despite a catalogue of injuries, remains a possibility.

And Manchester City defender Onouha is another player on Bruce’s wish-list as he looks to add to the four signings – Simon Mignolet, Cristian Riveros, Marcos Angeleri (subject to the granting of an Italian passport) and Ahmed Al-Muhammadi – he has made already.