Chelsea to battle Real Madrid for highly rated Brazil ace who is open to change of scenery

Soccer Football – UEFA Champions League – Atalanta v Chelsea – Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo, Italy – December 9, 2025 Chelsea's Joao Pedro celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Chelsea is keen on Nottingham Forest defender Murillo. The 23-year-old has impressed since joining Forest from Corinthians in 2023.

He anchored the Forest side that last season qualified for European football for the first time this century and established himself as one of the world’s elite young centre-backs.

Murillo also became a full Brazil international in March of this year when he started in Brazil’s 4-1 loss to Argentina in World Cup qualifying. He was previously called up for the squad for matches against Venezuela and Uruguay in November of 2024 but was an unused substitute for both matches.

In January he signed a new four-and-half-year deal which pushed him further up the pay scale at the City Ground. He has drawn admirers from clubs within the Premier League as well as abroad, and the Daily Mail reports the player is open to change of scenery this summer.

Real Madrid are also reportedly tracking the player. Murillo’s new contract doesn’t expire until 2030 and his reported value is over £60m.

Chelsea invested heavily in the transfer market this summer. Just over £282m was spent to bring in Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Estevao, Jamie Gittens, and Alejandro Garnacho amongst others.

The club may find themselves back in the market sooner that expected however, with the Blues short on defensive cover. Jorrel Hato and Mamadou Sarr were the only defenders brought in but only the former has played first team minutes.

Hato made four Premier League appearances for Chelsea before suffering an injury, while Sarr was loaned to sister club Strasbourg. The Blues have struggled with defensive woes this season, losing two of their last three matches in all competitions.

They were beaten by 2-1 Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday to drop to 11th place in the table. A January move for Murillo is unlikely given Forest’s precarious position just above the relegation places.

Forest will be unlikely to part ways with their best defender midway through the season, but a summer move is not rule out with the player keen to join a club playing Champions League football.

Nadji is a football writer with over 10 years of experience covering the Premier League. His work has been featured on Football Fancast, Arsenal-Mania, and Arsenal.com, where he has built a reputation for delivering sharp analysis, engaging storytelling, and in-depth coverage of the game.