"Absolutely incredible" - Big claim made about Portsmouth FC's Josh Murphy after Oxford United switch | OneFootball

Josh Murphy has been a revelation since moving to Fratton Park last summer

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Every side has a player that exceeds expectations after making a move to a club, or seems to thrive in a division above after earning promotion when there were doubts over their potential to make the step-up.

Portsmouth will have been in exactly that boat last summer, having brought in a number of players to join their journey back into the Championship, after storming to the League One title in the season before.

Some players swim, some players sink. But John Mousinho’s side have proven their early-season doubters wrong with a number of strong performances of late, with their relegation fears eased as they continue to pick up points on a more regular basis.

But who has been a surprise package for the Fratton Park outfit? We asked Football League World’s Pompey fan pundit Miltos Ioannidis who was a step above what he had thought when the season began?

Josh Murphy praised for Portsmouth form after Oxford United exit

Josh Murphy was one of those players to come into the football club before the season began, having played his part in helping Oxford United reach the second tier just months before.

The winger scored both goals in the League One play-off final to help the U’s earn promotion last May, before coming to the end of his contract a matter of weeks later, and opting for a move to the south coast instead of continuing at the Kassam Stadium.

A player who has had question marks surrounding him after a indifferent start to his career, Murphy has come into his own over the last 18 months, with Pompey now feeling the full effects of his talents on a regular basis.

With 15 goal contributions this season already, the 30-year-old has proven last year wasn’t just a flash in the pan, and is having the most productive season of his career to justify Pompey’s move for him last year.

After having his struggles in the Championship during the early stages of his career, a more mature Murphy is thriving back in the highest rung of the EFL, leaving Ioannidis pleasantly surprised by what he has seen this season.

When asked about his club’s surprising star, the Pompey fan said: “I am going to say Josh Murphy, and I am going to elaborate on that because it is perhaps someone you wouldn’t expect anyone to say.

“I think when we signed Josh Murphy back in the summer as a free agent, we knew we were signing a really talented player that had been really good for Oxford, especially in the final six months to a year of his time there.

“But we were signing a player that hadn’t really done extremely well at Championship level at the past, with a few injury problems here and there.

“When we first signed Josh Murphy I was obviously really happy because it showed the pull we had a club and the way John Mousinho managed to persuade him to join us instead of extending his contract at Oxford, for instance.

“But one part of me was still sceptical as to whether he would be exactly what we need, in terms of being a player that is Championship proven and Championship ready, but he has turned every doubt I may have had down.”

Josh Murphy is proving Championship class at Portsmouth

After starting his career at Norwich City, Murphy had a number of stints at Championship clubs during the early part of his career, with Wigan Athletic and MK Dons both taking him on loan, before adding 19 goal contributions over two seasons upon his return to Carrow Road.

A big move to then-Premier League side Cardiff City followed, but after a disappointing four years in the Welsh capital in which he rarely got a start, he was left trying to rebuild his career at the Kassam Stadium after a move in the summer of 2022.

The early signs seemed to show a player absolutely devoid of confidence, but Murphy has since rediscovered his love for the game and love for tearing opposition defenders apart on a regular basis, with Pompey now feeling the full effects of that after his recent resurgence.

A run of four goals in five matches between November and December helped to kick his side’s season into gear after a sluggish start, before another fine effort in last month’s 2-1 win over QPR helped to further establish a gap between Portsmouth and the bottom three with games running out in the season.

Ioannidis is in no two minds that his side are very lucky to have a player of such ability in their side right now, and he could well be the difference between survival and relegation in the second tier.

He continued: “He is arguably one of the division’s best wingers right now, he has just been incredible and definitely surprised me in a positive way.

“Perhaps in the past, people were saying that Josh Murphy possessed bags of ability and bags of potential, but he just was never quite able to put that talent on the pitch on a consistent basis.

“But he is doing exactly that at Portsmouth, he is definitely in the form of his life at the moment, and long may that continue.

“Josh Murphy is my pick, and he is absolutely incredible.”