Manchester United are monitoring Nottingham Forest centre-back Murillo, the 24-year-old Brazilian who arrived at the City Ground for £15M in August 2023 and has started 26 of Forest's 28 Premier League matches this season. United's scouting team have filed positive reports after watching him twice in December, according to people familiar with the club's recruitment process.
Murillo signed a five-year deal with Forest, which runs through June 2028. Forest paid Corinthians that £15M fee, and the player's market value has since climbed past £40M on Transfermarkt after consistent performances in a Forest side that sits 10th in the table with 32 points. United have not made an approach. The club is compiling data on multiple centre-back targets ahead of the summer window, when INEOS will allocate between £150M and £200M for squad improvements under sporting director Dan Ashworth.
The interest matters because United's centre-back picture remains fluid. Lisandro Martínez, who cost £57M in 2022, has missed 11 matches this season with foot and knee issues. Raphaël Varane left on a free transfer last summer. Harry Maguire, now 32, earns £190,000 per week on a contract that expires in June 2025, with a one-year club option United have not yet triggered. Victor Lindelöf, also out of contract in 2025, has started 4 league matches. INEOS wants two new centre-backs by September, one in January 2026 and one next summer, to lower the squad's average age from 27.1 to under 25 by 2027. Murillo fits the age profile and the cost ceiling INEOS is willing to breach only for players under 25 with resale upside.
Forest's negotiating position is strong. Owner Evangelos Marinakis paid off the club's £113M loan to Macquarie Bank in October and has no distressed-sale pressure. Forest rejected a £30M bid for Morgan Gibbs-White from Newcastle in August and are comfortable holding assets through multiple windows. Murillo's agent, André Cury, previously brokered the deals that took Neymar from Santos to Barcelona and Philippe Coutinho from Inter Milan to Liverpool. He has relationships with four Premier League clubs and routinely fields inquiries on his Brazilian clients. Forest have not fielded a formal offer for Murillo, but the club's internal valuation sits near £60M, a figure that would make him the most expensive defender in Forest's history and the second-most expensive Brazilian centre-back after Thiago Silva's £73M equivalent move from Milan to PSG in 2012.
United's list includes other names. Sporting CP's Gonçalo Inácio, 23, has a £52M release clause and is also tracked by Liverpool. Lille's Leny Yoro, 19, is valued near £60M and is a priority for Real Madrid. Nice's Jean-Clair Todibo, 25, is available but complicates United's relationship with INEOS, which owns both clubs and cannot facilitate intra-group transfers under UEFA multi-club ownership rules without prior approval. Murillo offers Premier League experience, age-curve upside, and a clean regulatory path. He also plays left of centre in a back four, the same zone Martínez occupies when fit, which suggests United are planning for Martínez's injury exposure rather than replacing him outright.
Watch for United's January spending. The club has £50M available before breaching Premier League Profitability and Sustainability thresholds, according to finance analysts at Vysyble. If United deploy that capital on a forward—Marcus Rashford has 2 goals in 15 league matches and the club is exploring loan moves for Napoli's Victor Osimhen—then the Murillo pursuit slides to June. If United stand pat, expect contact with Cury's camp after Forest's April 5 match at Anfield, when the club's survival math clarifies. Forest need 7 points from their final 10 matches to guarantee safety, and Marinakis will not negotiate core assets while the club is within 6 points of the relegation zone.
Murillo has 3 yellow cards this season and zero red cards. He averages 4.2 aerial duels won per 90 minutes, higher than any United centre-back except Maguire's 4.6. His pass completion rate of 86.1% trails only Martínez's 87.4% among United's current defensive options. The data supports the scouting narrative: a defender entering his peak years, already adapted to the league's tempo, available at a price INEOS can rationalize without board dissent. Ashworth's March shortlist will have four names. Murillo's agent expects one of them to be his client.
The takeaway
United's centre-back search centers on sub-25 targets under **£60M**; Murillo checks both boxes if Forest's April math cooperates.
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