Murillo reacts to major Nottingham Forest announcement amid City Ground exit links
Nottingham Forest defender Murillo has reacted to a new announcement from Nottingham Forest amid uncertainty around his future with the East Midlands outfit.
The Brazilian centre-back impressed massively last term as Forest exceeded all expectations and remained in the race for Champions League football until the final day of the season.
Murillo formed a strong partnership with Nikola Milenkovic at the heart of Nuno Espirito Santo’s defence, and his standout performances saw him nominated for the Premier League’s Fans’ Team of the Season, while the club finished in the Conference League places.
Former Everton chief Keith Wyness recently revealed to Football Insider that Nuno and owner Evangelos Marinakis will need to agree on selling some key men in the coming months, and they have already sold Anthony Elanga to Newcastle United this summer.
Murillo is a target for Liverpool, according to The Athletic, and has now reacted in the face of exit links after Forest issued a major announcement regarding one of their players.
Forest announce new contract for Matz Sels
Forest’s stellar defensive record was also aided by consistently strong performances from their Belgian international goalkeeper Matz Sels, who shared the Premier League Golden Glove award with David Raya after keeping 13 clean sheets in 38 appearances.
Sels’ impressive form has seen him offered fresh terms at the City Ground, and Forest moved to announce his new contract on Instagram on Friday (18 July), saying: “We’re delighted to announce that (Matz Sels) has signed a new contract with the Club.”
His defensive teammate Murillo reacted to the post with a like, while club-captain Ryan Yates replied with three heart-eyes emojis and Milenkovic, Ola Aina, Neco Williams and Leandro Trossard also responded with likes respectively.
Forest will not want to lose Murillo this summer amid Liverpool interest
Football Insider verdict
Forest’s success last season was built on a firm defensive structure and fast counter-attacking play, and Murillo more-than played his part with 39 appearances in all competitions.
The 23-year-old, who joined the East Midlands outfit from Corinthians in 2023 for a reported fee of £15m [BBC], has grown into one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League over the last 12 months, and so it is no wonder that top clubs are circling for his services this summer.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 75 | 2 | 2 |
The Athletic have claimed that Murillo is “admired” by Liverpool, but he is likely to be too expensive to sign this summer, and so Reds sporting director Richard Hughes is instead looking at other young centre-halves.
That will be music to the ears of all connected with Forest, and is likely down to the fact that Murillo signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract extension at the City Ground in January, so they do not need to sell him anytime soon over other key players.
Instead, it seems more likely that Nuno’s side will focus on other player outgoings after Elanga’s exit, with Football Insider recently revealing that Tottenham are still expected to sign Morgan Gibbs-White despite Forest threatening Spurs with legal action over their activation of his supposedly confidential release clause.