West Brom enter transfer battle for Portsmouth winger Josh Murphy - Leicester City have had bid rejected | OneFootball

West Brom have joined Leicester City in the race to sign Portsmouth winger Josh Murphy.

West Bromwich Albion will rival fellow Championship side Leicester City for the signing of Portsmouth winger Josh Murphy before Monday's 7pm deadline.

Pompey were dealt a big blow in their wide areas when Callum Lang suffered an injury against Norwich City which will keep him out of action for up to 12 weeks after he underwent hamstring surgery.

This meant that John Mousinho will have to turn to the transfer market to add some reinforcements to his wings, but interest has arisen in another one of his wide players late in the window.

Newly-relegated side Leicester were keen to add Portsmouth winger Murphy to their squad before Monday's 7pm deadline, but their first bid for the player was quickly dismissed.

However, according to journalist Darren Witcoop via X, a new challenger for the Wembley-born wide man's signature has emerged in Championship high-flyers West Brom.

Murphy has enjoyed somewhat of a late career resurgence, with a successful stint at Oxford United proving to be the catalyst which earned him a move to Fratton Park last summer.

After finishing his first season at Portsmouth with 21 goal contributions in 42 Championship outings, some of the division's top clubs have started sniffing around the winger, and could make a late move to sign him this summer.

Leicester have already seen a bid for Murphy knocked back, but could reportedly return with a second offer ahead of the deadline, according to journalist Chris Wise.

However, they aren't the only ones registering interest in the dying embers of the transfer window, with fellow Championship side West Brom also joining the race to secure his services ahead of the 7pm deadline on Monday, according to Witcoop.

Murphy has featured in three of Portsmouth's four league matches thus far after returning from an injury, but his future on the south coast is seemingly set to go down to the wire with the Baggies and the Foxes lurking.

Portsmouth remain adamant Josh Murphy isn't for sale ahead of transfer deadline

Pompey picked up their second victory of the season on Saturday, beating Preston North End 1-0 at Fratton Park to send them all the way up to eighth place in the Championship early doors.

After the match, Mousinho was quizzed by BBC Radio Solent on the future of Murphy, and he responded with a clear statement of the club's stance on their star man.

The Portsmouth boss said: "I've switched off from all that - it's down to the recruitment team and that's ins and outs.

"The only message I've been told is he isn't for sale, and I'm pretty happy with that."

It seems like it's going to take a massive bid from either Leicester or West Brom to test Pompey's resolve, as the former were reportedly well short of the valuation set by the Blues for Murphy.

With just over 24 hours left in the transfer window, Portsmouth have made their stance on the 30-year-old's future very clear, as they look to fend off the flurry of late interest in their star player.