Republic of Ireland under-21 defender Alex Murphy is set for a six-month loan move to Bolton Wanderers.
The 20-year-old Galway native made his Premier League debut for Newcastle United against Chelsea in November 2023 but he has only made one more one appearance for Eddie Howe’s side.
“I want to play as many senior minutes as I can, whether that is here or somewhere else for the year,” said Murphy.
Jake O’Brien’s Premier League debut for Everton in the 3-2 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur meant that seven Irish men featured in the English top flight over the weekend.
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“We wanted to have a look at Jake, we’ve not really had a chance to see him,” said Everton manager David Moyes.
“The big thing, the strongest point of the team has always been defensively, but I thought Jake would maybe give us a chance to build a little bit better when we’ve got the ball, which might free us up a little bit if we can work it.
“I think for long periods it did quite well. For Jake it was about getting as much of a 90 minutes as we could out of him because he’s not played so much but I thought he came through quite well.”
Elsewhere, Nathan Collins started for Brentford against Liverpool, Dara O’Shea and Jack Taylor featured in Ipswich Town’s 6-0 loss to Manchester City, Kasey McAteer came off the bench for Leicester City against Fulham, while Ryan Manning and Will Smallbone saw minutes in Southampton’s 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
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