Nottingham Forest’s £12m signing has former club mourning loss of ‘strong and solid player’

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Nottingham Forest’s gain, when it comes to one of their many summer signings, may already be shaping up to his former club’s loss.

A defeat against Fulham last time out might have taken some of the shine off what had been a superb start to the new campaign for Nuno Espirito Santo’s campaign.

But, with a host of highly-impressive additions threatening to transform Nottingham Forest into a stable, mid-table outfit, confidence is growing amongst a fanbase hoping that, at the third time of asking, their club can finally stay clear of a nail-biting relegation battle.

The Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic partnership, meanwhile, symbolises how far Nottingham Forest have come since their promotion back in 2022.

Murillo is a truly remarkable talent. The sky the limit for a defender on the radars of Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool, HITC reports.

Milenkovic was linked with West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester United in previous windows, meanwhile.

Fiorentina struggling after selling Nikola Milenkovic to Nottingham Forest

Like with James Ward-Prowse, Alex Morano and arguably Morato too, Milenkovic is standard of player it would have been difficult to imagine Forest luring to the City Ground in their early days back in the big time.

An old-school, 6ft 5 ins colossus of a centre-half – only Murillo averages more clearances per game – Milenkovic already looks a bargain at £12 million.

Forest have lost only one of the four Premier League games in which he has featured.

Milenkovic’s granit-carved presence was also a major reason why Nuno’s team ended their Anfield hoodoo in September. Nottingham Forest won away at Liverpool for the first time since Buzz Aldrin was pulling on his moon boots.

Milenkovic’s old employers, meanwhile, are yet to come to terms with his departure.

At least, that is the opinion of former Serie A director Mauro Meluso, La Viola winning only once so far in 2024/25 and missing Milenkovic’s penalty-box prowess as they conceded three times from crosses against both Monza and Atalanta recently.

Milenkovic has been labelled Champions League-quality

“It’s always difficult to judge after a few games. It takes a bit of time to understand. I think the Viola have changed a lot,” Mauro Meluso, who worked as a sporting director for the likes of Napoli, Lecce and Spezia, tells Radio Firenze Viola.

“There’s a need for adjustment and a path when you change the methodology. You can’t necessarily be competitive straight away. Fiorentina have shown good things at times [but] I didn’t like the setup in the last game.

“In my opinion, Fiorentina have lost a solid and strong player like Milenkovic. Now let’s see how the new ones will fit in. We’ll see if the defence will be up to par like in past few years.

“I’m convinced that the Viola have something more up front and something less at the back.”

Former Premier League winner Chris Sutton described Milenkovic as a ‘shrewd bit of business’ for Nottingham Forest after his stellar display at Anfield. Others, meanwhile, believe Forest have secured a footballer of Champions League quality, let alone Premier League quality.

And Nuno will need Milenkovic at his powerhouse best again when Forest travel to a prolific, Cole Palmer-inspired Chelsea side on Saturday afternoon.