New signing en route to Newcastle United after club confirmed farewell appearance

Alex Murphy is finally set to link up with Newcastle United in the coming days after bidding farewell to Galway United.

A deal for the Magpies to sign the highly-rated teenager has been in place since May, though it was agreed Murphy would remain with the League of Ireland club until July.

The 18-year-old has been a regular for Galway, who sit second in the First Division table, at left-back this season - missing just one of their 20 matches.

Galway announced last week that Friday night’s clash with Cobh Ramblers would be Murphy’s final game before moving to Tyneside.

And the defender signed off with a win, even assisting one of the goals as John Caulfield’s side ran out 3-0 winners. He was also awarded Galway’s player of the month for June.

Murphy will now travel over to the North East and go into Elliott Dickman’s under-23s squad, who fly out to Portugal on Tuesday for a six-day training camp.

Murphy, who can operate at full-back or in central defence, joined Galway from Corrib Celtic aged 14 before making his senior debut at 16-years-old in June last year.

He’s also captained the Republic of Ireland at under-18s level and was a standby for the under-21s squad late last year.

Academy manager Steve Harper has already described Murphy’s arrival as a big coupe having attracted interest from Brighton, Celtic and Torino.

Harper said: “He is a very promising young player who has attracted a lot of attention from clubs. It is a real coup for our academy and is a testament to the direction the club is going in under our owners.

“I would like to thank everyone involved with Galway United for their assistance. The club has been a pleasure to deal with and I wish John Caulfield and his players the very best of luck for the rest of the season.”