A three-way battle for Nottingham Forest defender Murillo is brewing among Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United – despite the Brazilian suffering an alarming slump in his form at the start of the Premier League season.

Murillo has established himself as an elite centre-back in the Premier League since joining Forest in their spectacular spending spree of the summer of 2023.

The 24-year-old has long been subject to rumours linking him with England’s biggest sides, and ahead of the January transfer window these have been reignited, with TeamTalk reporting that Man Utd have joined Liverpool and Chelsea in tracking the former Corinthians player.

Forest want world-record price for Murillo

Nottingham Forest are doing their best to put suitors off, having given Murillo a price tag of up to £80 million (€94m).

If they were to fetch such a fee, that would make the Brazilian the most expensive centre-back in history, overtaking the €90m that Manchester City paid RB Leipzig to sign Josko Gvardiol in 2023.

Murillo, meanwhile, only has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €63.5m – more than €30m less than his club are seeking.

But that is far from the only reason that clubs should be wary of snapping up the defender.

A slow start to the season could put clubs off

Murillo’s form at the start of the Premier League season has been disappointing for Forest, according to data analytics firm SciSports.

While there is the caveat that Murillo has not played the 900 minutes required for a strong assessment of his form, he is ranked as the third-poorest Premier League centre-back in the opening games of the season.

This snapshot should not be enough to put interested parties off signing the player, who has earned a reputation as being a powerful physical force during his time in England, but it should be sufficient to have these clubs closely monitor his form for signs of further drop off.

And regardless of these matches, Murillo is a player who is considered to have a very high potential ceiling. SciSports reports that he could become a key player at Man Utd, Chelsea or Liverpool given the correct conditions.

This is therefore a transfer situation to monitor, with a good deal of uncertainty over how it may develop.

Murillo will remain a player closely watched by the Premier League’s best, but his form and his transfer fee will be closely scrutinised ahead of the January transfer window and then again, very probably, before the summer.