West Brom are keen to bring Jacob Murphy in on loan from Newcastle United as a replacement for Harvey Barnes, according to the Express and Star.

Whilst Murphy might not be the Leicester man, he would certainly be a good acquisition for Darren Moore and fans should be delighted to see him linked with the club.

Barnes was tremendous for the Baggies and grabbing someone of his ilk again is almost certainly out of the question. If there's an exciting young player like Barnes not currently out on loan, the likelihood is he's staying with his parent club. The likes of Mason Mount and Harry Wilson would have been great replacements, but they're going nowhere.

There's also the question of Ben Woodburn, similar in terms of age and experience, but as an out and out wide player he'd fit into the Oliver Burke bracket and we know how that panned out.

Murphy is a little bit different. He is more suited to the wide areas, preferring the right flank to the left but almost as adept at either. he can play behind the striker too, but he's perhaps most comfortable in the old 'inside forward' role. The fact he offers some versatility makes him a more suitable replacement for Barnes than someone like Woodburn.

There's other positives though. Murphy has played a lot of games and whilst he still has the legs of a young man, full of running and endeavour, he's got the benefit of 150 senior appearances behind him. 25 of those have come in the top flight too, which makes him a more rounded player than Barnes, if not quite as exciting.

There's also those ten goals in 40 outings for Norwich a couple of season's ago. He was sensational for them and his move for an undisclosed fee was just reward for his talent. Transfer website transfermarkt suggest the fee was in the region of £10m, underlining the huge talent the Baggies might be getting.

It's not as if he's stagnated at St James' Park either, he's been around their first team if not a key part of it.

There's a lot for Baggies fans to like about this deal and although it isn't a return for Harvey Barnes, it is almost as good. murphy is experienced, proven, knows the Championship and hungry to prove himself to his parent club.