Joined Liverpool from Crewe Alexandra for a fee of £2million during the summer of 1997, after playing with good friend Michael Owen in the World Youth Championships.
A young player with plenty of potential, being quick with good vision, he plays as an attacking midfielder.
Was a fringe player in his first term and went back to Crewe on loan for the second half of the 1998/99 season for some first team football and helped Alex to avoid relegation.
Had more chances to play during the 1999/2000 season, and scored a memorable long-range goal against Leeds.
Battled hard during the 2000/01 season and secured a regular place in the starting line-up.
His most memorable games that season were probably both against rivals Manchester United when his free-kick earned the Reds a win at Old Trafford and when he was sent off in the Reds win at Anfield.
Injury ruled him out of the 2000/01 Worthington Cup win but he played in the FA and UEFA cup triumphs in that same season.
The dead-ball expert's consistency brought him to the verge of the full England squad - following on from his Under-21 achievements.
He made his first full international squad under Sven Goran Eriksson for England's World Cup 2002 qualifiers against Germany and Albania. His debut finally came in a 1-1 draw against Sweden in a friendly, and he opened his account six months later in a 4-0 thrashing of Paraguay - at Anfield.
Injuries to a number of key players earned Murphy a place in the England squad for the 2002 World Cup - but then a matter of days before the finals began he himself was injured and replaced by Trevor Sinclair.
A real hard-working midfielder who has become a vital player at Anfield against the tide of manager Gerard Houllier's big money rebuilding programme. By the start of the 2002/03 season, Murphy had played 154 games for the Reds, scoring 25 goals in the process.
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