Liverpool are among the clubs keen on completing the signing of Nottingham Forest centre-back Murillo, according to a new transfer update.
The centre of the Reds’ defence has been a worrying area of the pitch this season, and they are fortunate that Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have stayed fit for the vast majority of the campaign.
Konate’s form hasn’t always been the best, though – he has improved hugely of late- while new signing Giovanni Leoni is still out for a number of months with a serious knee injury.
Joe Gomez also hasn’t been without his usual injury problems, and he could leave at the end of the season, at which point he will have one more year remaining on his current deal.
For that reason, a new centre-back is a must this summer, and TEAMtalk report that Liverpool have “done more groundwork on Murillo than any other club over the past 12 months”, along with Chelsea.
The report adds that both sides were “weighing up bids” when last season reached its conclusion, but he has stayed put at Forest for the time being.
Is Murillo a strong choice for Liverpool this summer?
Murillo has been an excellent signing for Forest, forging a strong partnership with Nikola Milenkovic and being lauded by former teammate Joe Worrall.
“Murillo is an amazing talent. One thing I can say is he’s a real good kid and he’s someone who works hard in training. He’s a fighter and clearly knows what it takes to get to the level because he’s performing at it now – he’s no fluke. He’s a really strong character and someone who has taken that leap of faith to come over from South America to Europe.”
The £50m-rated Murillo is a physical powerhouse, but the one issue surrounding him is whether he is good enough on the ball to be a force for Liverpool, enjoying an 83.5% pass completion rate this season, down from Van Dijk and Konate, both of whom have averaged 89.4%.
That’s not to say that the Brazilian is poor in possession by any means, but compared to other targets, such as Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck, he is a step down.