CHELSEA 'PLANNED A SWOOP FOR NOTTINGHAM FOREST DEFENDER MURILLO IN JANUARY' - BUT NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO'S SIDE 'TURNED DOWN RECORD SALE OFFER'

  • Chelsea reportedly saw a bid rejected for Nottingham Forest defender Murillo 
  • The Blues were keen on the Brazilian before recalling Trevoh Chalobah 
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Chelsea reportedly saw a bid turned down for Nottingham Forest defender Murillo at the start of the transfer window.

The Blues had been keen to bring in defensive reinforcements in January after injuries sustained by the likes of Wesley Fofana caused issues at the back.

In the end, Enzo Maresca's side recalled Trevoh Chalobah from his loan spell at Crystal Palace after, according to reports, seeing a bid rejected for Murillo.

According to The Telegraph, Forest turned down the offer for the defender which would have been a record sale at the club. 

Murillo has since signed a lucrative new contract, committing his future to Forest, having made 59 appearances to date for the club.

The 22-year-old centre-back has been one of Forest's stand out players in their stunning league campaign - which has seen them challenge for a top four spot.

Despite Chelsea's need for defensive reinforcements, the club still allowed the likes of Axel Disasi and Ben Chilwell to leave in deadline day loan moves.

It is understood that Villa have agreed to pay a £5million loan fee to ChelseaTottenham had agreed a similar deal with the Blues but twice failed to convince Disasi to move to north London.

Despite being rejected by Disasi over the weekend, Spurs refused to give up hope of reaching an agreement and tried to resurrect talks on Monday.

However, Disasi seemingly preferred a move to Villa Park.

Some senior figures at Chelsea had been keen for Disasi to choose Spurs over Villa, due to viewing Unai Emery's side as direct rivals for Champions League qualification.

Interestingly, Villa's next match is against Spurs in the FA Cup on Sunday.

But Disasi will not be eligible to make his Villa debut in that game because he is cup-tied after playing for Chelsea against Morecambe in the third round.

He will also be ineligible when Villa host Chelsea in the Premier League on February 22.

His Villa debut is likely to come against Ipswich on February 15. 

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2025-02-04T17:18:15Z