Very few young defenders have made quite the impact at Nottingham Forest quite like Murillo has.
The Reds scouted the Brazilian on a number of occasions before parting with £10.6 million to bring him to the City Ground in the summer of 2023.
It was anticipated that he’d be a player for the future, but after a few months of arriving, he had established himself as a first-team regular.
Forest beat Manchester City to sign Murillo and from the off it was easy to see why. The defender has been virtually ever-present since his debut, missing one game earlier this season against Everton.
Murillo was hailed by Alan Shearer at the weekend after Forest beat Manchester City 1-0 and now, he’s shared that interest was rife in him when the Reds made the move to sign him.
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Murillo shares what Steve Cooper told him when he signed for Nottingham Forest
It seems as though Steve Cooper had some reservations over Murillo before eventually giving him a platform to express himself in the team.
Things didn’t work out for Cooper in the Premier League at Forest and after keeping the team up in 2022/23, he was sacked in December 2023.
Murillo has recited what the former Forest head coach said to him before a game against Manchester City at the start of the 2022/23 campaign when he told the Brazilian he’d be dropped.
He told TNT Sports: “I remember we had a match against Manchester City and I got dropped at the hotel.
“The coach told me, ‘You’ve been training and performing well, but to get up to speed, adapt and gain the strength you need, it’ll take you two or three months to play’.
“I listened, nodded and left, but in my head, I was like, ‘What? Two or three months? No way I’m waiting that long, no chance.’
“I remember decided to speed up the process, training at the club and outside, I hired a personal trainer, which I think is essential for any athlete, training at the club and having a personal one to complement it. It’s essential for a top-level athlete.
“So I started training at the club, I’d arrive, then train with the personal one, I thought, ‘I need to improve’.
“I think it was around October or September time, I don’t remember. We were going to play Brentford and the coach came to me on the day of the game and said I was going to play.
“He told me about Brentford and said he needed my quality, my long balls and I just told him I was ready for the game.”
Murillo is set for the very top with interest now rife
Murillo might have signed a new contract in the summer, but that doesn’t mean that clubs have simply stopped scouting him.
Ian Wright would pay to watch Murillo and a host of top clubs will be keeping the Brazilian at close quarters ahead of the summer transfer window.
It’s quite remarkable to see how well he’s done in the Premier League despite still being a relative novice when it comes to playing professional football.
At 22-years-old, the world really is at the mercy of Murillo and unfortunately for Forest supporters, the club will have to enjoy the star defender before he inevitably moves to a truly massive club.
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