Nottingham Forest face a battle to keep key centre-back Murillo as the club face a summer of major uncertainty.
The City Ground club, who were hit with a four-point deduction on Monday following breaches of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, face having to sell players at the end of the season to ease financial concerns with their emerging Brazilian defender among the players who look set to exit.
Murillo, 21, has earned rave reviews since his arrival from Corinthians last summer and is attracting significant domestic and overseas interest; with Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle among the Premier League sides monitoring the defender’s progress.
Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona feature among his European suitors.
Murillo was signed for around £15million but Forest can expect to recoup a significant profit if they were to sell the centre-half.
Forest are at risk of breaching financial rules again next season if they don’t sell one of their top stars in the summer.
In addition to Murillo, Morgan Gibbs-White and Taiwo Awoniyi are among the players likely to attract interest from rival clubs.
Forest are considering an appeal against the point deduction, saying they were ‘extremely disappointed’ by the sanction after they admitted a breach of financial losses.
An appeal board could increase the sanction as part of the process of any appeal.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
