“I thought I’ll go to Nottingham Forest, have a good year and then go to a big club, I had this in my head”- Forest fans must be fuming at latest Murillo interview as Brazilian admits he used Forest move as a stepping stone to push for transfer to ‘big club’ as player openly talks about desire to leave Forest for Big Six club this summer

Nottingham Forest centre-back Murillo has made an admission about his transfer to the club.

Since the Brazilian defender moved to the City Ground last summer, the 21-year-old has been one of the standout players for Nottingham Forest as they avoided relegation.

Forest looked set for relegation from the Premier League after the club were punished for breaching financial fair play rules but, like Sean Dyche’s Everton, the East Midlands side stayed up under Nuno Espirito Santo.

One of the key players behind this was the Brazilian defender and this has led to interest from a host of Premier League clubs this summer. Murillo has been speaking to the media out in Brazil and has made a rather surprising admission that will be good news to some of the top sides in England.

When asked about the rumours of his price tag being £70 million, the Brazilian told PL Brasil: “I don’t know if it’s 70 [million pounds], but I know there’s been a rumour of interest. So, I don’t know exactly how much it is, but I know there was interest.”

Murillo was then asked about his thinking behind a move to Forest and he made a rather interesting admission.

“It was my opinion, because I had the dream of playing in the Premier League and I had that thought. I said: ‘I’ll go to Nottingham Forest, have a good year and then go to a big club.’ I had this in my head,” Murillo explained.

“We don’t know anything for certain, the window opened last month so I’m going to return to Nottingham Forest for pre-season. There might be some discussions on whether I’ll stay or not so there’s a lot of things to happen still but I’m relaxed.”

When asked about which other Premier League club he would like to play for, Murillo added: “I’d choose Manchester City but it would be more difficult for me to be a regular starter given the players they have in their squad. There’s City, Arsenal as well, who are fighting for the Premier League title. I wouldn’t discard Liverpool either, it would be a good opportunity for me to show my football in a big club.”

Multiple Premier League clubs keen on Murillo
HITC understands that Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool are all interested in the Brazilian, who only moved to the City Ground last summer.

Murillo joined Forest from Brazilian side Corinthians and Forest are understood to want a fee similar to what Everton are demanding for Jarrad Branthwaite.

Forest are understood to be under no pressure to sell and will drive a hard bargain for the 21-year-old if interested parties come to the fore to sign the Brazilian.