Nottingham Forest spent a remarkable £200m on incoming players this summer, but they’ll be wary of a major exit with Barcelona watching one of the Reds’ top stars.
To help fund this summer’s squad improvements, Forest sold Anthony Elanga for £55m to Newcastle United, a fee that was deemed too high to turn down given he arrived from Manchester United for a reported £15m.
Alongside Elanga, Danilo left for Botafogo in a deal thought to be worth slightly more than the £16m the Reds paid for him in 2023, while Ramon Sosa sealed an £11m move to Palmeiras.
Sizeable enough sales, then, but Barcelona could be set to blow these figures out of the water if they pursue one of the Reds’ most valuable assets.
Murillo celebrates Nottingham Forest scoring against Brentford
Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images
Barcelona are keeping tabs on Nottingham Forest’s Murillo
It’s no secret that Murillo is a dream target for plenty of top teams in football, with the 23-year-old’s displays last season leading to reports that Liverpool admire Murillo internally.
However, no club has actually made a concrete offer for the Brazilian, but according to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona could end up being the club that tests Evangelos Marinakis’ resolve.
The report said: “Barca have information on the centre-backs who are standing out the most at other clubs and what they could cost.
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“[…] Left-footed centre-backs have been linked with Barca, such as the Brazilian Murillo Santiago Costa dos Santos (23 years old and 1.80m), with a contract at Nottingham Forest until 2029. […] Murillo, with a past at Corinthians, has already had more experience in European football and has started his third season at Forest, where he came close to a ticket to the Champions League last season.”
While he’s listed among a plethora of other options, Forest will know that the allure of Barcelona will be hard to compete with should an offer actually materialise. Thankfully, though, the Reds have already put themselves in a strong negotiating position.
Nottingham Forest will not let Murillo go for cheap
With his development showing no signs of slowing down, Forest signed Murillo to a new contract in January, when rumours were beginning to float about his future away from the club.
The new contract immediately puts the Reds in a position of strength, which is only further emphasised by the mooted fee that the club would demand for Murillo.
Reports shortly after the contract announcement claimed that Forest would demand £80m for Murillo which would make him one of the most expensive defenders in the history of football, a price that’s hard to argue with given that he’s still only 23.
Clearly, the Elanga to Newcastle situation showed that the Reds are willing to sell their top stars, but only on their terms and in the case of Murillo, these terms will be extraordinarily profitable.