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Chelsea made move to sign Nottingham Forest star in January but Evangelos Marinakis refused to sell

Srinivas Sadhanand

Tue 4 February 2025 11:15, UK

Despite being one of the most active teams in the transfer window in recent years, Chelsea took a step back and decided to have a rather quiet deadline day.

It seemed like Chelsea were far more focused on ou♒tgoings🐈 — with Ben Chilwell, Axel Disasi, Joao Felix, Carney Chukwuemeka and Caleb Wiley heading to Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Watford respectively on loan — and Harvey Vale joining Queens Park Rangers permanently.

Chelsea looked close to signing Dario Essugo while Mathias Amagou could head to Strasbourg on loan after agreeing a deal with Enzo Maresca’s side.

As immediate first-team signings go, a player who was linked to Chelsea is Murillo from Nottingham Forest.

Chelsea reportedly held talks to sign Murillo in July.

However, Murillo signed a contract extension with Notti🎃ngham Forest until 2029 recently, which notably has no rel🍒ease clause.

Murillo has attracted interest from Liverpool as well as he continues to prove why he is on🌼e of the Premier Leagueౠ’s best centre-backs.

Chelsea tried to sign Nottingham Forest star Murillo in January

Murillo, described a♛s “commanding” by Alan Shearer is having a sensational season for Forest.

So much so that Murillo, who Ian Wright has lauded as well has been the heartbeat of Nottingham Forest’s defence 🤡who have conceded the third-least goals (27) in t𒁏he league this season.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	23	17	5	1	56	21	35	56
2	ArsenalArsenal	24	14	8	2	49	22	27	50
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	24	14	5	5	40	27	13	47
4	ChelseaChelsea	24	12	7	5	47	31	16	43
5	Man CityManchester City	24	12	5	7	48	35	13	41
6	NewcastleNewcastle	24	12	5	7	42	29	13	41

The have rep🍸orted that Chelsea were trying to sign the Brazilian in January.

But Nott✅ingham🧔 Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was responsible for turning down the Blues’ approach.

Despite what could have been a club-record sale for Forest, the ℱGreek businessman had no intention of letting Murillo leave — with the club being aware of Chelsea’s longstanding interest in the 22-year-old.

Apparently, Arsenal enquired about signing Murillo in the summer as well as several top clubs seemingly reckon he is destined for the big-time. Even Tottenham were monitoring Murillo last year, who is flying high 𝓀at Nottingham Forest as they sit in third place in the league🐠.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	24	14	5	5	40	27	13	47

Murillo admitted he would love to sign for Manchester City

In July last year, Murillo admitted that if Pep Guardiola 🐷asked him to join Manchester City, he would happily make a move to the Etihad Stadium. The youngster said via journalist Romulo Giacomin: “I would tremble. I think everyone nowadays dreams of playing for Manchester City, Real Madrid, especially at the stage they are at.”

“They win at least one title every year and it’s a l🌜ot of competiti🦄veness, not only from the coach, but from the players.”

Murillo admitted last year that if given the choice to play for ꦚone elite club, it would be Manchester City once again.

The former Corinthians colussus told Benja♔ Me Mucho’s YouTube channel: “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 wouldꦏ be a good opportunity for me to show my football in a big club.”

As John Stones could leave Manchester City this summer, in case the Sky Blues do come 𒅌calling, all signs suggest that he 💎might prefer to sign for them over Chelsea.