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It is not easy signing a Daryl Murphy.

Making a sales pitch to a Matt Ritchie or a Dwight Gayle is a lot easier. Tasked with bringing in players to act as the pillars of a promotion push the recruitment team – headed by Rafa Benitez – crunches the numbers, absorbs the reports and identifies a few top targets.

United’s contacts men, Lee Charnley, formerly Graham Carr, now Benitez himself, then start laying the groundwork. Phones are hit, agents spoken to and – in the case of players with release clauses – information exchanged to grease the wheels of recruitment.

For someone like Ritchie, it’s an easy sell. United used to call them “purples” in a previous life: players signed to be first team regulars. International class footballers who would be expected to form the basis of a team. The player knows, the manager knows and the scout knows. If the finances are right, they’re easy deals to do.

It’s altogether harder when it comes to a Murphy – which is why a lot of teams don’t tend to bother.

If first teamers are purples, Murphy is a different shade. United used to call them greens – players bubbling under the first team – but in a previous black and white life they had to be under the age of 23 and able to appreciate in value.

(Image: Newcastle United)

Benitez moved the dial on those greens this summer. He’s a believer in the ‘weakest link’ theory and it underpins his steadfast desire to rotate starters in his squad – something that we’ve seen since the start of the season. And for that to work, it couldn’t be under-23s, it had to be players like Murphy.

The ‘weakest link’ theory has been explained by economists David Sally and Chris Anderson, who wrote a book on the matter – ‘The Numbers Game’.

They argued that clubs would be better off spending on upgrading their worst player rather than their best player. Sally told an episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast last year: “Soccer is a game where if you get lucky and score a goal, that might just hold up. So mistakes turn out to be a very important part of soccer as a team sport.

“That leads you to think about mistakes often happen – or are produced – by weaker players on the pitch.

“The idea here is that football, as a team sport, leaves players completely interdependent on each other. So if your best player is brilliant but your worst player is terrible – half as good as the best player – then you’re less likely to win. Much less likely to win, in fact. Sounds simple, right?

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“You can have eight passes in a row but if your worst player – your 45% player – botches the ninth then all the previous eight passes are wasted. And because of the nature of soccer, those eight beautiful passes may have only increased your chances of victory by a small percent. But then it goes back to 0% because the ball has been turned over.”

It doesn’t happen much, they reasoned, because it wasn’t particularly sexy. For owners who wanted to get into the game for their glory, they want the superstar signing. But what really matters is how good your worst player is. In Newcastle’s case, Benitez wanted to know how good his squad is.

Benitez didn’t just want to bring in a Gayle this summer, he wanted a support striker to supplement a department that had Ayoze Perez, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Gayle and Adam Armstrong.

Armstrong is considered too raw by Benitez and was always set to go out on loan. A senior man with ability to affect games – the weakest link theory – had to be sourced, which is where the difficulty kicks in.

Last season, United signed Seydou Doumbia to do it. Cheap and unsuitable, he had next to no impact. The weakest link proved just that.

This summer, Benitez told his team to source somebody who could make a difference and the names that they came up with were limited. There are plenty of strikers plying their trade in the Football League who would jump at the chance to play for Newcastle – but fewer of them were prepared to accept the remit that Newcastle were offering.

Supporting the squad requires a certain type of character. Newcastle didn’t want someone happy to pick up a wage without playing but they needed someone happy enough to keep working hard without assurances that they could usurp Gayle. Most of all, Benitez needed someone prepared to bide their time and strike when the chance came.

The data was analysed, the questions asked. Character was a big consideration. Rickie Lambert was one of the names on Benitez’s list but a deal couldn’t be done. Murphy was the other.

Over the next two weeks, if Benitez’s theory is right we should see the benefit of this approach.

With Gayle injured, United turn to the next striker in the chain. It seems harsh to call Murphy the weakest link because Benitez sees him as a strong option, but the fourth choice is not a bad choice.

Murphy’s last start was three weeks ago but his work on the training ground has been diligent. Benitez went for Mitrovic for tactical reasons and because he fancied the Serbian could make a difference at Wolves and then again on Monday. But with three games in 10 days and the need to rotate Murphy could well be the man on Saturday when Bristol City arrive at St James’ Park.

If not then, he will play a part in one of the four most important matches – and Benitez believes he is sharp enough to make a difference. A football philosophy that Benitez was able to put into practice this summer will hopefully bear fruit in these critical weeks.