Man Utd eyeing £70m Premier League star after changing transfer stance | Football

Manchester United have been forced to rethink their plans following injuries to Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez and work is underway to address the issue in the summer transfer market.

De Ligt had initially been expected to return from his mysterious back problem before the turn of the year, but – three-and-a-half months on – there are no signs of the Netherlands international making an imminent comeback.

In De Ligt’s absence, Martinez was an ever-present in Michael Carrick’s phenomenal start as interim manager, playing every single minute of United’s wins over Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham.

But the Argentine has been sidelined with a calf injury since the Red Devils were held to a 1-1 draw with West Ham, with Leny Yoro slotting in alongside Harry Maguire for the side’s last three games.

There had been hopes that Martinez could shake off the problem in time for United’s encounter with fellow Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa this weekend.

Martinez suffered a slight reaction when back out on the training ground at Carrington, though, and is now expected to play no part in Sunday’s crunch match at Old Trafford.

While Martinez’s injury setback is not deemed to be overly serious, United are keen to avoid rushing the 28-year-old back into the fold before he has returned to full fitness.

If he is ruled out of this weekend’s contest, it will mean Martinez will have missed a total of 95 matches through injury since arriving from Ajax in 2022.

According to the i, United have begun to draw up a shortlist of centre-backs with a view to providing ‘more reliable cover’ at the heart of their defence next season.

Strengthening at centre-back had not initially been deemed a priority at the Theatre of Dreams, but club bosses have altered their stance as a result of their frequent and ongoing injury woes.

While United’s search remains in its early stages, Nottingham Forest’s Murillo has become a player of interest – with the Brazilian’s experience in the Premier League viewed as a major plus by INEOS.

Murillo put pen to paper on a new contract at Forest in January 2025, tying him to the club until 2029, and is not actively seeking an escape route out of the City Ground as it stands.

However, this could change if relegation-threatened Forest lose their fight for Premier League survival this season.

Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have also been credited with an interest in Murillo and are believed to be keeping close tabs on the situation from afar in the event that the 23-year-old does agitate for a switch.

Forest will be demanding a fee in excess of £70million for Murillo when the summer transfer window opens for business.

Vitor Pereira’s side stand to make a tidy profit on Murillo given they signed the centre-half for around £15m only three years ago.

Murillo has made 104 appearances in all competitions for Forest since arriving from Corinthians and was named the club’s player of the season after a stellar debut year.

And while Forest have endured an immensely disappointing campaign, Murillo’s stock is still high and his reputation as one of the finest young centre-backs in English remains intact.

In the past, Murillo has made no secret of his ‘dream’ to one day play Champions League football and compete for major silverware at the highest level.

Murillo also confirmed that he had been the subject of ‘interest’ from Chelsea in 2024.

But at the time, the ex-Corinthians man – who has been capped once by Brazil – opted to turn down a proposed move to Stamford Bridge to continue his development with Forest.

‘I had the dream of playing in the Premier League,’ he told the Benja Me Mucho podcast.

‘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.’

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