Rangers eye starlet Murphy

A TALENTED striker on Arsenal’s books, who has declared for the Republic of Ireland, is attracting strong interest from Glasgow Rangers.

Rhys Murphy, 20, has already been training with the Ibrox club and recently played in a trial game against Hamilton.

West Sussex-born Murphy, whose grandfather hails from Dublin, has been capped by England at youth level but he has declared for the Republic, with sources saying the processing of his application by the FAI is well advanced.

Rangers boss Ally McCoist has confirmed the club’s interest in the Arsenal reserve, saying this week: “He is going to come up and join us again towards the end of next week for the following week’s training just to have a look at him.”

Murphy also trained with Middlesbrough and was given a run-out in a pre-season game against Carlisle before heading north to Ibrox. There are also reports that Liverpool have expressed an interest in the striker.

Regarded as a clinical finisher, Murphy is a product of the Arsenal Academy and netted some vital goals for the U18s in their double-winning season of 2009.

Murphy’s declaration for the Republic means that should a move to Ibrox come off, it would make him one of only a handful of Republic of Ireland-affiliated players who have been on Glasgow Rangers’ books in the club’s history.

The most recent was Cobh-born goalkeeper Alan Smith, who joined the club from Crumlin United in 2010 and was subsequently called into the Irish U18 squad.

There was also the unusual case of American Joey Lapira, who was handed a cap by Steve Staunton, but whose trial spell at Ibrox was ended by injury.