Stuart Pearce believes Nottingham Forest is the best place for star centre-back Murillo to continue his development.
The Brazilian has been a revelation for the Reds over the past year since making the move from Corinthians. He immediately adapted to the Premier League and is now a firm fixture in the starting XI.
Inevitably, his sparkling performances have earned plenty of admirers, and he has been the subject of much transfer speculation - both back in the summer and ahead of the January window. But for Forest legend Pearce, a defender of note himself, the City Ground is the perfect environment for the 22-year-old.
“I hope he stays at Forest. He’s catching people’s eye and being talked about, and if you’re being talked about in the Premier League there’s no doubt that people are going to be around you,” the former Reds player and manager said.
“He is very good defensively and is very composed on the ball. He’s also got an eye for a pass and can thread it through the midfield, which is very eye-catching on occasions.
“He needs to keep doing what he’s doing. I think Forest is a great place for him to play his football at the moment.”
The signing of Nikola Milenkovic in the summer has helped push Murillo on further. The duo are an effective partnership and have contributed to a solid defence being a key strength for Forest this season.
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Milenkovic’s performances are no surprise to Pearce. He had the Serbia international on his radar when he was on the staff of West Ham United.
“Milenkovic coming in to partner Murillo at the heart of the defence looks a good partnership,” Pearce added. “Milenkovic is someone I looked at when I was at West Ham - his name was mentioned a fair bit. That partnership looks pretty good.”
The defensive duo will need to be on their game when the Reds take on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium this evening (7.30pm kick-off). But Pearce is confident the visitors can cause the reigning Premier League champions problems at the other end of the pitch - pointing to the win they got at Anfield in September and the 1-1 draw at Chelsea the following month as evidence of what Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are capable of.
“The legs they’ve got on the counterattack have been very good. They are the only team to win at Liverpool because of the counterattack threat they offer,” he said.
“And Chris Wood is scoring goals, which is fantastic for the club as well. He is having a halcyon period in his career. If he’s not fit, Taiwo Awoniyi did well last season so can step in for him. The bottom line is they’ve got threat on the counterattack with pace, and two goalscorers at the point of the team.
“They have got to be very good on the counterattack, which can suit the game against City with the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Elanga. They’ve got threat with pace on the counterattack, which is what undid Liverpool. They are the only team to have done that at Liverpool, so you’ve got to respect that.
“They also got a great result away at Chelsea earlier in the season. I don’t think people actually realised how good that result was. Chelsea have been pretty solid this year, so it was a heck of a result there.
“I think they are going to have to sit back and suffer a bit. Even though City are on a bad run of form at the moment, they will still dominate the ball. Forest won’t worry about that, but it will be interesting to see whether they adopt a high press at certain times in the game and try to make it difficult for City.
“One or two teams have done that against City recently. Whereas normally you fear City, at this moment in time people are getting a little bit aggressive with them on the press.”
Stuart Pearce is working as a pundit for Prime’s coverage of Man City vs. Nottingham Forest on December 4. Prime members can watch festive football on Prime Video at no extra cost, including 20 Premier League matches such as Arsenal v Manchester United and every Boxing Day match – as well as a top UEFA Champions League clash on December 10.
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