Empire of the Kop
·22. Januar 2025
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Yahoo sportsEmpire of the Kop
·22. Januar 2025
Liverpool’s hopes of bolstering the backline with the potential signing of Nottingham Forest centre-back Murillo have finally been dashed.
The Merseysiders were understood to be admirers of the Brazilian defender (22), though it’s safe to imagine the footballer now potentially falling outside of the club’s price range with his bumper new contract.
Arne Slot’s men are relatively well-stocked with quality options in the position between Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah.
That said, with the Dutch skipper’s contract saga still far from resolved ahead of expiry this summer, Liverpool are staring down the barrel of needing quality reinforcements at the end of the season.
(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Florian Plettenberg relayed an official clip released by Nottingham Forest confirming that their star centre-half had committed his long-term future to the Tricky Trees.
The Sky Germany journalist tweeted confirmation of the deal, lasting until 2029, on X (formerly Twitter).
Murillo, formerly of Corinthians, has been described as ‘a little bit mad’ and a ‘completely unique defender’. A seemingly fair assessment given that he’s helped propel Nuno Espirito Santo’s men to third in the Premier League table.
It’s one thing letting generational fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold skip along to Real Madrid. However, ripping out the beating hearts of this Arne Slot team in Van Dijk and Mo Salah would be a horrendous reality to contend with.
If we afford any care to a reasonable transition, we can’t afford to see our No.4 walk out of the door for nothing come the summer.
With options like Murillo falling off the table, Liverpool could be setting themselves up for a very costly window in the not-far-off future.
It’s their risk to take in the name of maintaining a sustainable wage policy – a noble goal in itself.
Of course, it should be remembered that an ability to be opportunistic also relies in part on the club being successful enough to attract the kind of talent to sustain said success.
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