Watford have made Jacob Murphy a transfer priority as they look to beat Rangers and Southampton to the signing of the Newcastle man.

The 26-year-old, who is a winger but has played in a deeper role successfully for the Magpies this season, is a regular in the XI under Steve Bruce right now.

However, Murphy is about to enter the final year of his contract, so there are doubts about his long-term future, with Football Insider previously claiming that the Hornets were rivalling the other two clubs for his signature.

And, the same outlet has now stated that the Championship high-flyers are ready to push through a move in the summer as they see Murphy as their 'number one transfer target'.

The update adds that a fee in the region of £3m will be required to do a deal for the former Norwich City man.

Watford would need to win promotion to stand any chance of signing Murphy, but that seems inevitable with Xisco Munoz's side needing one win from their final three games to go up.

The verdict

This may not be the most exciting signing out there, but to bring in a talented, versatile player like Murphy for just £3m would represent a great bit of business for the club.

It would also be a statement of intent if they could sign Murphy ahead of Southampton and Rangers as a newly-promoted club.

Once promotion is secured, which could be tomorrow, attention will switch to recruitment and it could be a very busy summer at Vicarage Road, with Murphy potentially the first of many additions.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.