In a recent edition of the Benja Me Mucho podcast, Nottingham Forest ace Murillo expressed his desire to join Manchester City this summer. Murillo said,
“I had the dream of playing in the Premier League and I had that thought. I thought: ‘I’ll go to Nottingham Forest, have a good year and then I’ll go to a big club’. I had that in my head.
“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,”
Murillo’s Impressive Form At The City Ground Last Season
Murillo had a solid campaign at Nottingham after he put in a series of impressive displays for them on the defensive third of the pitch. The 22-year-old made 36 appearances for the Midlands club last season, picking up a couple of assists in the process across multiple competitions.
The Sao Paulo-born talent was a dominant presence when defending inside his half based on his average of 1.6 tackles, 1.2 interceptions and 5.8 clearances per game in the Premier League. However, he needs to improve his ball distribution from the back as he completed just 77.6% of his attempted passes in the English top tier (stats via whoscored).
Should Manchester City Boss Pep Guardiola Move In For Murillo?
Murillo is a good tackler of the ball and can time his challenges well to secure the ball back for his team inside his half. He doesn’t mind clearing his lines when needed and can even play his way out from the back.
Standing at 1,84m, the Brazilian talent can use his strong frame to dominate the oppostion attackers in the air. He already knows the Premier League well by now and won’t take much time to adjust to life at the Etihad Stadium if Man City manage to get him on board this summer.
At 22, Murillo has the potential to be a future star in England as long as he continues to improve with each season. He would add more bite and steel to Pep Guardiola‘s defence and could help the Mancunian club challenge across all fronts in the coming years. Thus, it makes sense for Guardiola to move in for him in this summer transfer period.
