Arsenal’s ‘serious intent’ to sign Premier League star as record-breaking deal ‘inevitable’

Robin Bairner

24 Nov 2025 07:10 GMT
4 min read

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal, 2025/26 — © IMAGO

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is showing “serious intent” to sign Nottingham Forest centre-back Murillo but faces competition from Chelsea over the Brazilian.

Article continues under the video

Murillo has long caught the eye of the Premier League’s biggest club thanks to the combination of his physicality and technical ability. This was showcased on Saturday as Forest sprung a major surprise by going to Liverpool and recording a 3-0 victory, with the centre-back blasting Shaun Dyche’s side into the lead in the first half.

This performance seems only to have secured the interest in him, with CaughtOffside indicating that Arsenal are ready to step up their chase for the 23-year-old.

Current ETV

Murillo

D (C)

Nottingham

Murillo

D (C)

Nottingham

ETV Range

€58.7M - €71.7M

The Gunners have recently seen Gabriel go down with an injury that is set to see him sidelined for several weeks, and though they signed Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, the report claims that Arteta still wants more depth in the middle of his rearguard.

The Arsenal manager is said to be a fan of Murillo’s “progressive style and his capacity to carry the ball through midfield lines”.

© IMAGO - Murillo: Arsenal manager Arteta appreciates his ball-carrying qualities

Murillo price tag set as Arsenal and Chelsea prepare transfer battle

Nottingham Forest have slapped a price tag of €80-90 million on Murillo, who they signed for €12 milllion from Corinthians.

While they do not want to sell the player, they will listen to offers at this mark, which would make Murillo among the most expensive defenders in history – and Forest’s biggest ever sale.

A January move from Arsenal around this price would come as a huge shock given Arteta seems to be intent on strengthening on the wings or in central midfield as priority, but it may be that a deal is pushed through to beat the string of other teams interested in the player.

Chelsea and Liverpool are tracking Murillo from the Premier League, while Barcelona are also credited with an interest, although given the financial limitations the Camp Nou side faces, signing a player for such a fee appears a long way off.

Indeed, the report concludes that such interest is building in the Brazilian that “a record-breaking transfer may now be inevitable”.

Murillo has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €65.2m.

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•Google Play

•App Store