Luke Murphy says he needed little persuasion to sign his new four-year deal as he now feels "at home" with Leeds, adding "I can see the ambition that the club has got".

The midfielder, who was among last season’s Player of the Year candidates, took a considerable wage reduction to commit his long-term future to the club, having had just one year remaining on his previous contract.

Murphy recently suffered an injury setback which is likely to rule him out of action until the opening weeks of the new campaign, but the club did not hesitate in extending his stay after proving his worth last season.

"The good news is me signing my future to this club," he said.

"I found out about it about a week ago. I sat down and spoke and there wasn’t really much to think about.

"I’m happy here. I’ve had ups and downs but I really started to feel at home towards the end of last season and started to feel as though I was playing my best football that I’ve played here.

"Hopefully that can continue."

Murphy now has his sights set on being part of a promotion-winning Leeds side in the not-too-distant future.

"That’s part of the reason why I did want to sign," he said. "I feel at home now.

"I can see the ambition that the club has got.

"The club belongs in the Premier League, everybody knows that. Hopefully we can get there in the near future."

Murphy’s turnaround in fortunes since the start of 2015 has been little short of remarkable, with the midfielder well out of the first-team picture until returning to action for the FA Cup visit to Sunderland.

"A lot of things go through your minds at different periods of the season," he said. "At Christmas, I definitely wouldn’t have thought this was going to happen.

"When I started playing, I really started to enjoy myself. It wasn’t necessarily what I thought would happen, but it was what I hoped would happen.

"It has now and I’m chuffed to bits. Hopefully I can kick on this season."

However, Murphy will be forced to wait for a chance to impress new head coach Uwe Rosler after twisting his knee innocuously during pre-season training.

"I had a little bit of an injury last week and had to have a small operation on my knee," he explained. "But I’ve had that and the physios and everyone here have been first-class.

"They got me straight in to see the specialist after the scan and the operation was done on the same day that I saw him. Full credit to Harvey (Sharman) and everyone working behind the scenes."

Asked how frustrating it is to suffer a setback at this time of the year, Murphy replied: "Especially with the new manager.

"He’s been really good with me, to be fair – he’s been first class.

"I just want to get back as soon as possible, help the lads and fight my way back into the team.

"They’re going to have a month of hard work whereas I might not be able to do what they’re doing.

"When they’re fully match fit come the start of the season, I might not be.

"That’s where I need to play on my own and work hard, staying longer after training and then trying to catch up with the fitness they’ve got. Hopefully I can do that and fight back in."