Departure no. 13 as Luke Murphy and Leeds United part company

Luke Murphy has joined the mass exodus from Leeds United by agreeing to terminate the rest of his contract.
Luke Murphy scores against Brighton on his Leeds United debut.Luke Murphy scores against Brighton on his Leeds United debut.
Luke Murphy scores against Brighton on his Leeds United debut.

Murphy’s departure takes the number of outgoing transfers from Elland Road to 13 after Ronaldo Vieira’s permanent move to Sampdoria was confirmed tonight.

Murphy - a forgotten presence at Leeds for the past two seasons - was under contract with the club until next summer but has become a free agent a week before the end of the EFL’s window for permanent transfers.

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His last league appearance for United came in May 2016 and he spent most of 2016-17 and 2017-18 terms on loan with Burton Albion in the Championship.

The midfielder, who made 111 appearances for the club, was a high-profile signing in the summer of 2013, joining from Crewe Alexandra for a fee of £1m while GFH were in charge of United, and scored a last-minute winner on his debut in a 2-1 victory over Brighton.

Former owner Massimo Cellino moved to re-negotiate the salary handed to him by GFH in 2015 and tied him to a new four-year deal on a reduced weekly wage but Murphy endured spells out of the team and was high on the list of players who Leeds wanted to lose in this window.

United head coach Marcelo Bielsa indicated at the time of his appointment that the number of departures would be high, saying: “The club generally have 15 players who you might consider more than we need.”

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In total, 13 with at least one senior club appearance to their names have moved elsewhere. Murphy and Andy Lonergan agreed to sever their deals while Vieira, Madger Gomes, Felix Wiedwald and Marcus Antonsson have left on a permanent basis

Loans deals were agreed for Lewie Coyle, Paudie O’Connor, Pawel Cibicki, Jay-Roy Grot, Hadi Sacko, Tyler Denton and Mallik Wilks.

Eunan O'Kane and Caleb Ekuban are expected to follow before the end of the month after being told to find news clubs.