Depending on your choice of story Murphy is on his way to Sheffield United or Bournemouth or (shock!) even Rangers. Fees ranging from £60,000 to £200,000 have been mentioned - not to mention a couple of loan sweeteners. Millwall are said to be keen on Hutchinson.
We've been through many so transfer windows and have seen so many early claims come to nought that there's little point in giving any rumours more than a curious glance until the club confirm that a deal is done.
Speculation about the movement of players will become a mainstay of the back pages in the next few weeks and until the window closes at the end of January Motherwell will probably be linked with several moves (in and out). Keep calm and wait till it's confirmed.
What is certain is that our annual budget has made an assumption that there will be some transfer income. The club has not released figures for the year ending last May but given that there were no sales we can expect a loss. That sad state is as much due to prospective buyers in the lower leagues south of the border being short of cash as our decision not to accept undervalued bids.
As the last window closed in August we turned down offers for Law and Hutchinson. At the time McCall was quoted , “While we understand every player at this club has a value we also need to ensure we protect our interests by getting the right price for our talent. Rejecting both offers, which were significant in Motherwell terms, is also a sign of intent from the club’s board that they are not prepared to accept any bid that comes our way."
Without the safety net that was provided by John Boyle and until the Well Society gets up to full speed with its fund raising plans, the club board will have to steer a delicate course that tries to balance the expectations of fans and manager against the hard fact that we don't generate enough cash. Our occasional European forays have delivered some reward but the cash generated at the turnstile is well short of the level that can provide comfort. We haven't had an attendance at Fir Park above 5,000 since October.
We'll have to hope that a decent offer or two will appear in the next few weeks and that McCall can find some way of filling that gaps while retaining a challenge at the top end of the table. But we won't assume that any deals are done until the ink is dry.
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