Nottingham Forest are expected to demand around £50m for Chelsea transfer target Murillo, according to The Telegraph.

The Blues, Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle are all said to be interested in signing the Brazilian if he is made available for transfer this summer.

It had been claimed that Murillo, who was signed from Corinthians for just £13m in August, could be sold on the cheap as Forest look to sell star names in the hopes of staying within the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.

However, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side believe the 21-year-old has a massive future ahead of him and they are unwilling to let him leave for below his current market value.

Murillo has been praised by pundits

After a man-of-the-match performance against Crystal Palace back in October, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp was full of praise for the defender. His colleague Jamie Carragher echoed those sentiments last month when he said:

“I remember being a young lad going in myself at Liverpool and it’s an unforgiving position, I had to go to full-back for the next three or four years and then go back to centre-back, so you can see the quality we have. (Jarrod) Branthwaite has been outstanding, Murillo I think has been outstanding too.”

Chelsea want to sign another centre-back

Thiago Silva is expected to leave Stamford Bridge after four years when his contract expires at the end of June. There are also doubts surrounding the future of Trevoh Chalobah, while Wesley Fofana’s poor injury record means he cannot be relied upon.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino could be left with just Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi available as options in the centre of defence. It is, therefore, an area of the pitch that will need to be strengthened, so it is not a complete surprise that the Blues have taken an interest in Murillo. Whether he is worth £50m, though, is another matter.