Amid injuries to the likes of Vivianne Miedema and Khadija Shaw, the 18-year-old has taken her opportunities to shine for the Cityzens
When Manchester City took on St. Polten in their penultimate Champions League group-stage fixture in December, they were without electric winger Lauren Hemp, serial goal-scorer Khadija Shaw and the otherworldly talents of Vivianne Miedema. To break down a defensively stubborn opponent, they needed someone to step up. The player who took up that challenge, however, was the most inexperienced on the pitch. It was 18-year-old Lily Murphy.
Lined up on the left wing, where Hemp would normally terrorise defenders with her explosive pace, Murphy proved a capable replacement, bringing her own terrifying speed to the table while not lacking in confidence when it came to using that to beat her marker. After a bright first half, her big moment came in the 55th minute, when she pounced onto Aoba Fujino’s fantastic cross and broke the deadlock with her first goal for her childhood club.
"You could see the confidence running through her,” City boss Gareth Taylor said after the game, with that belief fuelling the teenager’s star performance. It can be a bit of a cliché to describe young players as fearless but, on her first start for the club, Murphy certainly was, and has been in each of her appearances to date. It’s that freedom that has allowed her to show plenty of promising signs through what has become a real breakthrough season for this talented England youth international.
Getty ImagesWhere it all began
A childhood Man City fan, Murphy could’ve actually succeeded in an entirely different sport, having represented England as a sprinter throughout her youth. Instead, it is football that she has come to the fore in, joining City at 16 years old after coming through the youth set-up at nearby Blackburn Rovers, a club which also helped develop Ella Toone, Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh before their respective moves to the Cityzens.
Murphy has had a flurry of loans in the time since, at Stockport County, Fylde and Stoke City, all in the third-tier, scoring eight goals in 27 games across those spells. Her progress through those valuable senior experiences was well-monitored by England, as well as City, with the winger earning a first Under-19 call-up while at Stoke.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesThe big break
After being included on City’s pre-season trip to Australia, Murphy spent the first half of the 2024-25 campaign knocking on the door of a big breakthrough. She made her senior debut in September, in Champions League qualifying, then signed her first professional contract in early December, having started to become a regular substitute of Taylor’s.
But it was that electric display against St. Polten just before the winter break that really announced her to a wider audience, one that might not have caught much of her potential in the short appearances she was making from the bench in the build-up to that first start.
Getty ImagesHow it's going
Murphy’s emergence in the senior team has been a real blessing for City while they’ve been riding out a bit of an injury crisis, particularly in attack. Miedema's return, plus Hemp and Shaw's presence on the team’s winter training camp earlier this month, will have been a real boost to fans, but their returns should not make the teenager redundant. It’s clear that she has something to offer, something which is a little different to City’s other options out wide, and Taylor will continue to turn to her as the season intensifies.
When City were trailing to Everton in their final Women’s Super League outing of 2024, it was Murphy that the coach brought on at half-time as he looked for a spark. A few days later, away at European champions Barcelona, she was his first substitution again. It’s clear that he believes in the teenager and that will do her confidence the world of good.
On the international front, things also continue to get bigger for Murphy. Her first involvement with the U19s came in 2024, with her helping the Young Lionesses to reach the next stage of qualifying for the European Championship just before Christmas.
Getty ImagesBiggest strengths
Unsurprisingly, Murphy’s pace is the first thing that stands out about her game. She makes full use of the speed that made her a promising sprinter, and that is even more dangerous for defenders when combined with how positive and direct she is when she gets on the ball. She is not afraid to take full-backs on and is always looking to ensure any run ends in an effective action, be it a shot, a cross or a cut-back to a team-mate from the byline.
As well as her obvious ability, the teenager’s attitude clearly creates this kind of player too. “[I] just play with confidence and enjoy it,” she told club media earlier this season. “That’s when I play my best football.” Murphy’s personality is something Taylor has also remarked on, describing her as someone “really hungry to learn” and “prove herself”.
She’s versatile, too. While her running power and nice footwork make Murphy an asset out wide, she’s also capable of operating as a No.9, as she did off the bench against Barcelona. This is particularly useful for counter-attacks, given how quick she is, though that’s not often a position a No.9 finds themselves in at City.
