The Reds fielded calls from a host of top-flight outfits over the summer but Evangelos Marinakis stood firm on the £70 million valuation he craves for his services.

Murillo is a regular in the Forest team and if he stays at the City Ground for the remainder of the 2024/25 season he could be worth even more.

The defender signed for Forest for just £10.6 million after Manchester City had chosen not to take Corinthians up on the offer.

Real Madrid want Nottingham Forest star Murillo

It’s claimed that the Bernabeu giants want to sign Murillo, with Graeme Bailey exclusively saying as much this week.

We quizzed the transfer guru on the interest in the Forest defender and it would appear he’s now on the shortlist of targets for Los Blancos.

HITC transfer writer Bailey told us: “Real Madrid are looking around Europe at central defenders, they have an ageing backroom and having failed to get Lenny Yoro, they are looking.

“We know they are already in England, keeping tabs on William Saliba and Cristian Romero, so it is not a great shock to see Murillo on their radar.

“Murillo has matured so much since he arrived in the Premier League and is now one of the most promising young defenders anywhere in Europe.”

Forest can up the ante when it comes to selling Murillo

Okay, compared to Real Madrid, Forest are small fry when it comes to the food chain and that naturally means the club are at the mercy of bigger ones.

However, if Forest remain a Premier League club again – and Murillo plays a part in that – the club can command whatever sort of fee they want for the Brazilian.

The 22-year-old has bags of potential and it’s quite remarkable to see the trajectory he’s been on during his time at the City Ground.

Now, Forest will have to accept that at some point Murillo will leave the club and the challenge is to ensure that every possible penny is rinsed out of the buying club.

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