Manchester United have been forced to rethink their plans following injuries to Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez and work is underway to handle the difficulty in the summertime transfer market.
De Ligt had initially been expected to return from his mysterious back problem before the turn of the yr, but – three-and-a-half months on – there aren’t any 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 each minute of United’s wins over Manchester City, Arsenal, Fulham and Tottenham.
However the Argentine has been sidelined with a calf injury because 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 issue in time for United’s encounter with fellow Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa this weekend.
Martinez suffered a slight response 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 shouldn’t be 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.
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If he’s ruled out of this weekend’s contest, it’s going to mean Martinez could have missed a complete of 95 matches through injury since arriving from Ajax in 2022.
Based on the i, United have begun to attract up a shortlist of centre-backs with a view to providing ‘more reliable cover’ at the center of their defence next season.
Strengthening at centre-back had not initially been deemed a priority on the Theatre of Dreams, but club bosses have altered their stance because of this of their frequent and ongoing injury woes.
While United’s search stays in its early stages, Nottingham Forest’s Murillo has change into a player of interest – with the Brazilian’s experience within the Premier League viewed as a serious plus by INEOS.
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Murillo put pen to paper on a brand new contract at Forest in January 2025, tying him to the club until 2029, and shouldn’t be actively looking for an escape route out of the City Ground because it stands.
Nevertheless, this might 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 within the event that the 23-year-old does agitate for a switch.
Forest might 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 yr.
And while Forest have endured an immensely disappointing campaign, Murillo’s stock continues to be high and his fame as considered one of the best young centre-backs in English stays intact.
Previously, Murillo has made no secret of his ‘dream’ to in the future play Champions League football and compete for major silverware at the very best level.
Murillo also confirmed that he had been the topic of ‘interest’ from Chelsea in 2024.
But on the time, the ex-Corinthians man – who has been capped once by Brazil – opted to show down a proposed move to Stamford Bridge to proceed his development with Forest.
‘I had the dream of playing within the Premier League,’ he told the Benja Me Mucho podcast.
‘I believed: “I’ll go to Nottingham Forest, have a great yr after which I’ll go to a giant club”, I had that in my head.’
Is Forest defender Murillo price £70m?
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