LATEST: Portsmouth boss speaks on interest in £11m attacker as chase with Sunderland, Derby County, West Brom, QPR & Co continues

But the Pompey boss told of the need to respect the transfer process, as the exciting attacker decides his future.

The Blues are hot on the trail of Murphy along with a string of Championship clubs, after a big second half of the campaign for Oxford United.

The likes of Sunderland, Derby, West Brom, Hull and QPR are all said to be keen on the 29-year-old, while Oxford United are desperate to keep Murphy at the Kassam Stadium after promotion to the Championship.

The Londoner’s stock has soared off the back of campaign with the U’s, where he bagged 10 goals and five assists - with eight goals in the league since February.

Mousinho will hope his personal links, with the man who moved to Cardiff from Norwich for £11m in 2018, tip the balance in his side’s favour.

The Blues head coach acknowledged Murphy’s talent as the transfer chase continues, after defender Jordan Williams’ arrival last week on the opening day of the summer window.

Mousinho said: ‘The truth on that is I know Josh, and he’s a fantastic player.

‘He had a really good back end to the season but for those kind of players, whether there’s interest or not, we want to keep everything respectful of the players, other clubs and everything else going on.

‘There is links with Josh because I played for him previously, but whether we’ve got any interest or not it’s something we have to leave alone and not really comment on.’