Southampton, West Brom, Sunderland and QPR plotting winger transfer | OneFootball

At present, there are numerous clubs across the EFL whose sole target is to achieve their respective ambitions of promotion, a play-off place or survival.

However, that hasn't stopped the rumour mill from working its usual speculation as we edge further towards the summer transfer window.

Josh Murphy's form at Oxford United

Oxford United have been one of League One's strongest outfits across the season, and despite a blip after Liam Manning's well-documented departure to Bristol City last November, Des Buckingham still has the U's in a strong position to solidify an eventual place in the play-offs.

Buckingham has a highly-talented squad at his disposal for League One level, and one of those comes in the form of Josh Murphy, who has previously graced the higher echelons of English football, where his twin brother Josh now finds himself at Newcastle United in the Premier League.

His first season at the Kassam Stadium after signing a two-year contract wasn't exactly ideal, featuring just 23 times all season - only ten of which were starts, registering no goals and just three assists.

It took the Norwich City academy graduate some time to get going this campaign also, despite an injury-hit period between late December and early February.

However, since his return, the 29-year-old has been in red-hot form for the play-off chasers. Since notching his first goal of the season in a 4-2 win over Wigan Athletic on February 12th, Murphy has gone on to record five more goals and three of his four assists so far this term - with half of those eight goal contributions coming in the last two games - emphatic 4-0 and 5-0 victories over Burton Albion and Peterborough United.

Championship sides monitoring Josh Murphy's situation

The winger was a well-established Championship player earlier on in his career with Norwich and Cardiff City, as well as a loan spell at Preston North End.

However, he could soon be on his way back to the second tier based on a recent report by the Sun, who state that promotion-chasing Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City alongside Sunderland and QPR all sent scouts to the aforementioned 5-0 success on Saturday, in which Murphy was a stellar performer with a goal and assist, accumulating an overall 8.8 match rating as per SofaScore.

However, the second tier sides won't be facing an internal battle among themselves, as the report also claims that staff from MLS outfit Minnesota United were also present at the Kassam Stadium to watch the eye-catching performance.

What could sway the 29-year-old is that he remains out-of-contract in the summer despite United's ongoing bid to return to the Championship for the first time since 2001, although Buckingham has stated that the club will do everything within their power to extend his stay in Oxfordshire.

“I really enjoy him as a person, and I really enjoy working with him. He loves being in and around this club, and we’ll do what we can to try and keep him here," he said via the Oxford Mail.

“If there are opportunities that come up for him, we can address those and try and do our best at the end of the season.

“I’m delighted to see how happy he is enjoying his football. He’s very settled and if he keeps performing that way, I’m sure he’ll attract interest," Buckingham added.

Similarly to the view of his head coach, Oxford should do everything within their power to retain Murphy's services, regardless of what division they find themselves playing in when August comes around.

There's no doubt that supporters would prefer that to happen sooner rather than later, but given the side's predicament in the table, that is somewhat understandable.

However, it would be hard to see Murphy potentially feature for some of the aforementioned Championship outfits next term, in particular Southampton - if they regain Premier League status - and Sunderland, given the Black Cats' philosophy of having a youthful outfit, although Murphy's experience wouldn't go amiss if they were to lose Jack Clarke.

Either way, we could be set for a fascinating transfer saga if no new contract is signed in the coming weeks.