Credit: Imago

Evan Lloyd

Fri 17 April 2026 13:15, UK

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Nottingham Forest have been forced to wait to see Jair Cunha in action following his reported £10million move from Botafogo last summer.

The 21-year-old has spent much of the season on the bench, injured or not even registered, amid a difficult start to life in England.

On Thursday, however, the Brazilian was brought into the starting line-up as Nottingham Forest beat FC Porto 1-0 to qualify for the Europa League semi-finals.

The home side had an immediate advantage when Jan Bednarek was dismissed for a late and high tackle on Chris Wood. Morgan Gibbs-White’s winning goal would come just four minutes later.

Nottingham Forest’s good form appears to come at the perfect time, with Vitor Pereira’s side now set for a Europa League semi-final clash against Aston Villa.

Jair Cunha proves his worth vs FC Porto

Former Manchester United scout Mick Brown exclusively told Football Insider last month that Liverpool are keen to sign Murillo this summer.

The centre-back has been hugely impressive for Nottingham Forest again this season and will attract a sizable fee if he leaves, with three years left on his contract.

Decision-makers at the City Ground will be desperate to keep hold of Murillo, but they will also know that they may well have a ready-made replacement in Cunha.

Thursday was just the defender’s eighth appearance in a Nottingham Forest shirt, and it came in one of their biggest games of the season.

With Nikola Milenkovic sitting on the bench, the 21-year-old was starting on merit, and proved exactly why.

Cunha was composed and confident, completing 91 per cent of his passes, all four of his attempted long passes, and even creating a chance on the night.

And defensively, he was dominant. The centre-back made two tackles, two clearances and won all but one of his duels.

Despite the slow start to Cunha’s Nottingham Forest career, £10m is starting to look like an extremely good piece of business.

Nottingham Forest fans applaud Cunha

Sean Dyche’s lack of trust in Cunha led many Nottingham Forest fans to believe that the 21-year-old was not ready for action yet.

Opportunities since the arrival of Pereira have called those decisions into question, however, with fans left massively impressed after Thursday’s display.

“Didn’t notice him at all… which is just about the biggest compliment I could pay a CB,” wrote one supporter on X about Cunha. “Absolute gem of a signing!”

Another wrote: “Jair Cunha is going to the very, very top, absolute star boy”.