In an honest interview, Nottingham Forest defender Murillo has declared himself open to a move to three Premier League clubs, including Liverpool.
After just one year at Forest, the Brazilian is already publicly stating he is looking to play for “a big club” and has named Liverpool as a team he “wouldn’t discard.”
After a season in which he played 34 times for the relegation strugglers, Forest’s centre-back has spoken about how he sees his current club as a stepping stone.
As per liverpool.com, Murillo said on the Benja Me Mucho podcast: “I had the dream of playing in the Premier League and I had that thought.
“I thought, ‘I’ll go to Nottingham Forest, have a good year and then I’ll go to a big club’.
“I had that in my head. I’d choose Manchester City but it would be more difficult for me to be a regular starter given the players they have in their squad.
“There’s City, Arsenal as well who are fighting for the Premier League title.”
The 22-year-old then went on to name Anfield as a potential destination, too. “I wouldn’t discard Liverpool either,” he added.
“It would be a good opportunity for me to show my football in a big club.”
Thanks for not ruling us out, Murillo, but Liverpool, Man City or Arsenal need to want you first for a transfer to happen.
The Brazilian did, though, say there had been interest from Chelsea already. Liverpool have also previously been reported to be “monitoring” the centre-half.
We know that Liverpool are looking for defenders in this transfer window, but whether Murillo is particularly high on their agenda is another matter.
As a young prospect at Corinthians, Forest paid about £15 million for his services last summer and almost immediately, he became a starter every week.
As you would expect for a player in a relegation-threatened side, his stats don’t make for amazing reading but he did impress over the season when moving past the opposition with the ball at his feet.
Worryingly, however, he is weak in the air. He has won 1.23 aerial duels per 90 minutes over the last year, according to FBRef.
That places him in the bottom 10 percent of defenders in Europe’s top five leagues for that particular stat.
One area he performed highly in was clearances, producing 6.07 of them per 90, meaning he was in the top three percent in that regard.
Some of that, though, can be put down to him playing in a team on the back foot constantly. Virgil van Dijk, for example, produced 3.97 clearances per 90 because he plays higher up the pitch on average.
On the whole, it seems unlikely that Liverpool would consider Murillo at this stage.
In fact, the only thing we can take from this interview is that Forest fans won’t be pleased he doesn’t think of them as “a big club.”
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