Arsenal have supposedly joined Barcelona in the race to sign a Nottingham Forest centre-back, whom Chelsea have also expressed an interest in.
The Gunners lost their perfect defensive record for the 2025-26 Premier League season in Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Liverpool, where a sensational Dominik Szoboszlai free kick propelled the champions to all three points.
Nevertheless, Arsenal are yet to concede from open play in the top-flight campaign, where the partnership of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes have remained as solid as ever.
Saliba was withdrawn inside the first five minutes of the defeat to the Reds owing to an ankle injury, but summer signing Cristhian Mosquera slotted in seamlessly alongside Gabriel and was recently name-checked by a Gunners legend in a Premier League title question.
Mikel Arteta has also added Bayer Leverkusen's Piero Hincapie to his ranks on a loan deal - which will almost certainly be made permanent next summer - but there are a few concerns around Saliba's situation.
Arsenal show 'equally significant' interest in Forest's Murillo
Nottingham Forest's Murillo on August 28, 2024
The Frenchman is now in the final two years of his Gunners contract and is supposedly being courted by Real Madrid, who are hopeful of signing him on the cheap next year or on a free transfer in 2027.
In preparation for Saliba's possible exit, CaughtOffsideclaims that Arsenal have taken an interest in Nottingham Forest defender Murillo, who became an immediate fan favourite upon his arrival at the City Ground from Corinthians in 2023.
Forging a formidable central partnership with Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo scored two goals in 36 Premier League appearances last season, playing a fundamental role in the Tricky Trees' Europa League qualification.
The Gunners and Barcelona are said to be the two 'leading admirers' of the Brazilian, while Arteta is particularly attracted to two of his traits; his 'presence of mind' and line-breaking passes, the latter of which Arsenal have somewhat lost with Oleksandr Zinchenko's loan move to none other than Forest.
Meanwhile, Barcelona apparently believe that Murillo would be the perfect successor to Inigo Martinez, who left the La Liga champions to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr this summer.
How much would Arsenal, Barcelona have to pay for Murillo?
Nottingham Forest defender Murillo in action on October 25, 2024
Forest are in an incredibly strong negotiating position when it comes to Murillo, who only extended his contract back in January and is not due to become a free agent until 2029.
The Tricky Trees paid £10.4m to bring the 23-year-old to the club two years ago, but they would supposedly now be after between €70m (£60.7m) and €80m (£69.4m) to let him depart in the coming months.
Chelsea are thought to have failed with one formal bid for the South American earlier this year, but the Blues have been tipped to go back in when the January market opens following Levi Colwill's serious ACL injury.
Despite his strong form for Forest over the past year, Murillo was left out of the Brazil squad for September's World Cup qualifying matches against Chile and Bolivia.
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