Nottingham Forest are trying to sign a number of players before tonight’s deadline and now a centre-back could be on the horizon.
Forest have signed Nikola Milenkovic this summer and he made his debut in the 1-0 win against Southampton last weekend.
Murillo is likely to be his defensive partner this season but he does look likely to move to a bigger club next summer.
Now, the Reds are looking to land another central defender ahead of tonight’s deadline as Nuno Espirito Santo bids to finalise his squad.
Nottingham Forest could sign Benfica star Morato
According to Record in Portugal, the central defender is on his way to England to pen a contract with a Premier League club – believed to be Forest.
The Reds look to have won the race for the player’s signature with Fulham and Tottenham also showing an interest this summer.
Morato will cost around £18 million and it will enhance Forest’s defensive ranks ahead of the first half of the campaign getting into full swing.
The 23-year-old has been with Benfica since 2021 when he checked in from Sao Paulo and he’s been instrumental since signing.
He’s made 86 appearances for the Portuguese giants but the club are now willing to sell the player amid interest from the Premier League.
It looks as though a deal might be close and if Forest can get this over the line, the Reds would be adding another Brazilian.
Forest could be about to switch formation
A number of things could be happening here. Forest might just be adding competition to the ranks, with Joe Worrall now departing the club for Burnley this summer.
That said, Willy Boly and Andrew Omobamidele are in the Forest ranks as backup to Milenkovic and Murillo.
With that in mind, perhaps Espirito Santo is keen to have the option to play three at the back at certain stages of the season.
Morato looks like a pretty useful signing and at 23 he also fits in with the profile of player that the recruitment team has tried to target this summer.
Who Scored shows that Morato’s strongest attributes are tackling and passing, whilst they don’t cite any particular weaknesses in his game.
A new central defender perhaps wasn’t on the deadline day bingo card of many Forest supporters but one could now be heading to Trentside.
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