West Brom rival boss comments on out-of-contract £11m star amid Southampton, QPR, Sunderland and Hull interest

Pompey boss John Mousinho is refusing to be drawn on speculation linking them with a move for West Brom transfer target Josh Murphy.

Murphy has admirers from across the Premier League and the Championship after his performances for Oxford United last season. He helped win the U's promotion after scoring twice in the League One play-off final against Bolton Wanderers.

The 29-year-old is out of contract this summer and is yet to sign a new deal at the Kassam Stadium. He has interest reported for him from Southampton, QPR, Sunderland, along with Minnesota United, West Brom, Derby County and Pompey.

Murphy played alongside John Mousinho during their time together at Oxford. The Pompey head coach spoke highly of the winger once bought by Cardiff City for £11m, but didn't give his full commitment behind there being any interest from Fratton Park for the former Norwich City star.

‘The truth on that is I know Josh, and he’s a fantastic player," said Mousinho to The News.

‘He had a really good back end to the season but for those kind of players, whether there’s interest or not, we want to keep everything respectful of the players, other clubs and everything else going on.

‘There is links with Josh because I played for him previously, but whether we’ve got any interest or not it’s something we have to leave alone and not really comment on.’

The Wembley-born winger got 10 goals and six assists in 38 games in all competitions last season. He has an immense amount of experience in the Championship having played 201 times, registering 26 assists and 24 goals.