With just hours left before the transfer window closed, Bournemouth boosted their attacking options with the signing of Glenn Murray from Crystal Palace. The 31-year-old joined the Cherries for £4 million, and has penned a three-year deal at the Vitality Stadium.
Speaking about the addition of Murray, manager Eddie Howe believes the striker will add a different dimension to Bournemouth’s forward line, and will provide much needed competition up front:
“He is very good with crosses, very good aerially and a real goal threat. Glenn is an out-and-out number nine. He thrives on being in the box and scoring goals and does it very well. His record in terms of goals to games is second to none. You need more than one number nine and we need competition for places in all areas of the squad. I felt we were a little light in terms of options in our frontline. Glenn adds several options in terms of partnerships and what we want to do in that area of the pitch. In this league, you need goals from more than just one player and we are delighted to bring him in.”
THE HISTORY
Murray began his professional career back in 2002 for non-league side Workington Reds, before spending a season with North Carolina in the USL Professional League, where he scored three goals in 14 appearances. The forward then returned to the UK and joined Barrow, before moving onto Carlisle, where he was part of two promotion-winning sides, although he only managed to score five times in 46 appearances.
A loan spell at Stockport County was followed by another loan, this time to Rochdale, where Murray scored 16 goals in 31 appearances during the 2006/07 season, ultimately earning himself a permanent move to Spotland. The striker scored nine league goals in 23 league outings in the first half of the 2007/08 campaign, and the-then League One outfit Brighton swooped to sign Murray for a reported fee of £300,000 in January 2008.
Murray spent the next three-and-a half-years with the Seagulls, and scored 45 goals in 97 appearances, playing a huge part in the League One title winning campaign in 2010/11. Having rejected the offer of a new contract, the front man joined Brighton’s fierce rivals Crystal Palace in the summer of 2011 on a free transfer.
His most prolific season at Selhurst Park came in the 2012/13 campaign, where he netted 30 times in 43 appearances, as the Eagles secured promotion to the Premier League after beating Watford 1-0 in the play-off final, although Murray missed out on the showpiece occasion at Wembley after suffering a serious knee injury against his former side Brighton in the play-off semi-final. That injury meant he missed a large chunk of the 2013/14 season, only scoring one goal in 14 outings in the top flight. Murray was sent out on loan to Championship side Reading for the first half of the 2014/15 season by Neil Warnock, but was brought back by new Palace boss Alan Pardew, and scored seven goals in 15 appearances as the Eagles finished 10th in the Premier League.
THE PROSPECTS
On the back of Murray’s impressive form at the end of last season, the 31-year-old will arrive at the south coast outfit expecting to be a regular starter under Howe, though with Callum Wilson hitting the ground running in the top flight, scoring four goals in his last two matches, it remains to be seen how the young boss utilises the pair.
Howe broadly favours a 4-4-1-1 system, so the more experienced Murray should be able to fulfill the “number ten” role behind Wilson, although his quotes do suggest he sees the former Crystal Palace man as an out-and-out striker. With wide man Max Gradel ruled out for around six months with a knee injury, the slightly more disciplined Marc Pugh could perhaps come in on the left, allowing Howe to go for a more rigid 4-4-2, with Murray playing alongside Wilson.
Certainly, with Yann Kermorgant barely featuring in the Premier League so far, and Lee Tomlin and Joshua King more suited to the role of support striker, there doesn’t appear to be too much competition for the forward spots if the Cherries boss utilises a two-man frontline. It may well be that Howe will turn to Murray’s aerial ability, allied with Wilson’s pace and movement on the shoulder of the last defenders, as his preferred partnership in the final third.
Coming in at 5.8 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Murray certainly appears favourably priced, although with Wilson valued at 5.7, the former Coventry man looks the better option at this stage, having established himself as the number one option at Dean Court. Nonetheless, Murray is well-known for his ability from spot-kicks and it’s worth monitoring whether he can manage to usurp Wilson in the penalty pecking order.
Bournemouth’s favourable start to the season continues over the next four Gameweeks (nor, SUN, sto, WAT), but with Wilson having an ownership of 20% in FPL, Murray is perhaps unlikely to attract much investment initially. From Gameweek 9 onwards, the fixture list looks much trickier for the Cherries, so it may only be until the second half of the season, when we’ve had chance to assess where Murray will fit in at Bournemouth, and judge whether he’s a better option than Wilson, where we see the well-travelled striker truly come onto the radar of Fantasy managers as a potential budget option.
