Middlesbrough are reported to have made a £4.5 million offer for Town striker Daryl Murphy.

According to the Irish Sun, Boro have increased their bid having had a previous offer of around £4 million turned down by the Blues.

Three weeks ago, the same paper reported that Town had rebuffed an earlier £2.5 million bid from the Teessiders for Murphy.

The 32-year-old Irish international has been the subject of much speculation since netting 27 goals during 2014/15 with clubs from both the Premier League and Championship reported to have shown interest and we understand Boro are amongst those to have made an enquiry.

Last week, Cardiff City were reported to have ended their pursuit of Murphy, Town having apparently quoted them a fee in excess of £4 million.

Speaking yesterday, manager Mick McCarthy reiterated his intention to keep the Irish international at Portman Road: “We don’t want to sell Daryl Murphy, we don’t want to lose Daryl Murphy.

“He’s still on a break because he’s only had a couple of weeks [off since being away with Ireland]. That’s what I’ll be telling him, and his agent - we want to keep him.

“He was the outstanding striker in this league last season and it would be difficult to fill his boots. We’re going to try and keep him.”

Murphy, who previously played in the North-East with Sunderland, has said on a number of occasions he that he has no intention of leaving Town as he and his family are settled in Suffolk.

The Waterford-born frontman signed a new contract with Town last July, which has another year left to run with the Blues having an option to extend it for a further season.

Photo: Action Images

muccletonjoe added 10:12 - Jul 1 Agree, we cannot sell a player of his class
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Bluebell added 10:18 - Jul 1 As Gav says, why would we want to sell to another Championship club? They are our close rivals (or were last season). Shame they didn't put in a shift in the final! I really hope Murph doesn't leave but for the right money I can't blame him but only for Prem football.
1

Guthrum added 10:24 - Jul 1 Not enough. And we're not going to sell to another team in the Championship. And can anyone give me a really good reason why Murphy won't score lots of goals this coming season? He netted 27 last time, 13 the season before (when McGoldrick was the main man) and six in the McCarthy part of the one before that (when we weren't scoring many at all). Up to that point he was mostly played as a wide man rather than the primary striker. His technical skill, fitness and strength are excellent. He missed only two League games last season (one of those with a broken nose).

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truthhurts added 10:28 - Jul 1 If this offer is genuine - and not just Press speak - then it is something we should seriously consider. Whilst i would be disappointed to see him leave, i can't see him scoring so regularly next season. However he does offer a hell of a lot more than juat goals... That said, £4.5m for a 32 year old Championship player is a great price. Add that to the £8m from the Mings sale and it gives us serious weight to rebuild - options that would previously be unavailable to us. We shouldn't be fooled that ALL the money will be spent in one hit - and so it shouldn't - but it should at least allow us to afford good quality additions

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blue_movies added 10:32 - Jul 1 Sell Murphy, try and tempt Frank Nouble back from Tianjin Songjiang FC.
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blue_movies added 10:35 - Jul 1 BTW we got £12m and MM can't find 4 players for the back four unless they all play out of position. Genius manager.
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dirtyboy added 10:40 - Jul 1 Why do people keep saying "one decent season" Ridiculous comments and shows how much attention people pay to what a player does and is capable of and simply see his goals scored as the only statistic. £4.5m is a drop in the ocean if we sell him to 'boro and he scores 20+ goals and gets them promoted. He MUST stay at any cost. He's worth more than Mings to this team. Far more.

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itsonlyme added 10:46 - Jul 1 Two points here: it is a lot of money for a 32 year old but why sell him to a rival. No no no!
2

essexbluey added 10:53 - Jul 1 Feeek off boro feeek off boro.
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carsey added 10:58 - Jul 1 The only person speaking sense on here is dirtyboy - Murphy had an outstanding season last year but prior to this he was an enormous influence on the team particularly with our style of play under MM. He may not score 27 goals again but I still fancy him for 15+ which if Sears and Pitman score similar totals we will have a great chance of top 2 (always assuming the defence don't make daft errors). Unless it is a Premier League club, in which case you couldn't blame him for wanting to move, I would hope he takes the decision to stay here.

1

jpring89 added 11:12 - Jul 1 I would take 3 million from a prem club and reject any championship club we can't have this biting us in the ass reject reject reject
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blue_movies added 11:14 - Jul 1 Why sell him if all we need are frees, loans and triallists? We don't spend any of these transfer fees on players anyway.
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dalinghooblue added 11:16 - Jul 1 Totally agree with Dirtyboy and Carsey. He may not score quite as many as last season, but with the likes of Sears and Pitman feeding off him, we should have a decent goals for column. I don't think that anyone would really begrudge him a shot at the Premiership if he had a chance,(N****ch excepted), but would rather see him achieve that with us.
2

DerryfromBury added 11:33 - Jul 1 It very rarely happens that a player even with Murph's experience has 2 good years on the bounce. At the ripe old age (joking of course) of 32, whilst we're all very grateful for last seasons excellent performance and his dedication to the cause, with the type of money (if true) that's being banded about, I'd suggest both ITFC and Murph himself cash in on what is a very good offer. Murph will know at 32 (sorry to mention that again) he's in his twilight years as far as his carrier as a player is concerned, so why not take the bonus of what would be a massive hike in salary for possibly his last couple of years. If he does go I'll be the first to thank him and wish him well for his future. With the current management structure at the club, I have no fears about finding a suitable exciting replacement to slot in along side Freddy.

2

Northstandoldie added 11:34 - Jul 1 Marcus Stewart from Huddersfield.................ring any bells? Oh am I the only 1 who thinks he WILL get 20+ goals this season what with the wingers we have bought to supply the ammo?
3

MeenoITFC added 11:37 - Jul 1 I DONT SEE WHY YOU LOT DON'T THINK HE CAN KEEP UP AND SCORE 20+ AGAIN?? why because he might be getting to old, have a laugh!
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GoldieBlue added 11:41 - Jul 1 Shouldn't even be considered we've got our deal this year with 8 million for Mings. We don't need the money and we can't replace him. It's an all round bad deal for both parties
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blue_movies added 11:44 - Jul 1 Sell McG if he can still run.
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topguy added 12:35 - Jul 1 We all saw him play both games for Ireland he looked sharp and fit,im sure with the right service and the extra pace I don't see a prob with him getting 15+ is it worth the risk farming him out to a rival if a prem side come in with a similar offer that's different he deserves the shot, just cause boro have lost their main man and not replaced him weakens them a lot as most of their good stuff was caused by bamford the risks of a loan player you base a team on him then he goes I think his friendship with moriniho would have brought him bk for another season it hasent, it did with derby when they lost ibe and plummeted at least our loan player has no recall and is out wide and not building too much round him boro may regret not getting a striker in earlier who they got kike that's it.

2

sotd78 added 13:51 - Jul 1 Wake up folks. This is an agent feeding an Irish newspaper - probably the only one that would pay any attention - with a line to put pressure on our club to renegotiate Murphy's contract. Remember agents often only really benefit if they engineer new contracts. And this agent knows we have £8million to spend. Strikers are rare; especially ones you know will be consistent. Daryl Murphy is much more than a goal scorer....we'd need the same outlay to find anyone near his ability - so the acid test is really back to how far we have to be pushed to renegotiate with DM.

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warktheline added 14:06 - Jul 1 That fee is extremely high for a 32 yr old, but selling to a rival championship wouldn't be very clever. Selling to a premier club is another story!
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Warkys_Tash added 19:04 - Jul 1 Selling to a high finishing rival like Boro would be shooting ourselves in the foot. Dam has had 3 good seasons, the past 2 excellent. He is very fit, I don't see 32 as being a problem. Keep him.
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IvorFeeling added 21:11 - Jul 1 errr last time i watched a game of football you need to score a goal to win so why sell one of the best and proven goal scorers in the division? In addition, Murphys partnership with Sears is also important for Freddie and the team. We know that Murphy is settled and happy and anyone coming in will need to hit the ground running. Taking the money is more of a risk as for the sake of getting £4.5m you lose out on £120m! I believe we are not far away from being a top two side so who are you going to get that is guaranteed better than Murphy for the sameor less money. Hoppit Boro.

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