WANDERERS are close to wrapping up the loan signing of Newcastle United defender Alex Murphy on loan.

The Irish defender – who can play as a centre-half or left-back – has been made available for his first move away from Tyneside.

Murphy joined Newcastle from Galway United in July 2022 and has been regularly featured in the first team squad under Eddie Howe, making his debut as a substitute against Chelsea in November 2023.

In May he signed a long-term deal at St James’ Park and has also appeared in the Vertu Trophy for the club’s Under-23s.

Wanderers could confirm the deal before their League One game against Charlton Athletic on Tuesday and as the player does not fall into their EFL quota, there is still room for Ian Evatt to add one more player to his squad at present.

Murphy has voiced his desire to play more first team football, believing he is in the right place in his career to progress outside of the Premier League.

“I want to play as many senior minutes as I can, whether that is here or somewhere else for the year,” he said. “I want to get as many games under my belt as possible and then, hopefully, the aim is to play here [at Newcastle] every week.

“I want to show what I can do in men's football and I feel I am at that stage to do that. A year or two ago, I wanted the same thing but I then got called up into Newcastle's first team and you didn't care about that because you were getting that experience here and training with the squad.

“I'm at the point where I need to go out and play every week, showing what I can do, but we'll see what happens.”