Chelsea’s impressive run of form came to an abrupt end on Wednesday as they were beaten 3-1 by Leeds United at Elland Road.
Enzo Maresca’s side were unbeaten throughout November and travelled to Yorkshire off the back of a 1-1 draw against Premier League leaders Arsenal, but they fell behind early on through Jaka Bijol.
Ao Tanaka then doubled the lead for the home side, before Pedro Neto pulled one back to halve the deficit.
The Blues’ chances of rescuing a point were dashed in the closing stages, though, when Dominic Calvert-Lewin capitalised on a dismal mix-up between Tosin Adarabioyo and Robert Sanchez to make it 3-1 to the hosts.
That result leaves Chelsea fourth in the Premier League, nine points behind the Gunners.
Now, it has also emerged that the West London side could have to pay a significant amount to sign one of their top transfer targets next year.
According to Football Insider, Chelsea will likely have to pay a fee in the region of £70-80 million to sign Nottingham Forest defender Murillo.
Murillo is on the radar of Chelsea (Photo: MI News & Sport/Alamy)
The Brazilian has established a strong partnership with Nikola Milenkovic at the heart of Forest’s backline over the past 18 months.
In total he has made 88 appearances for Forest since joining from Corinthians in 2023, but his impressive displays have made him a target for Chelsea as they look to bolster Maresca’s defensive options.
The report claims that Chelsea could look to sign the Brazilian next summer after identifying him as an ideal candidate to improve their squad in defence.
Forest are understandably keen to keep hold of the centre-back, though, and they are under very little pressure to sell the player as he is under contract until the end of the 2028/29 campaign.
Forest will prevent the Blues from signing the player in January, the report claims, although it remains to be seen whether they could be tempted into selling he defender next summer.