Chelsea willing to swap player 'tracked' by Man Utd to Premier League rivals to land £70m transfer target

Chelsea want to sign Murillo from Nottingham Forest and could use Trevor Chalobah as part of the deal. According to a report by The Guardian, Chalobah is ‘up for sale’ and is being tracked by Manchester United. It remains to be seen whether he would be interested in moving to the City Ground this summer.

Chelsea have quite a few defenders at their disposal already such as Levi Colwill, Axel Disasi, Wesley Fofana and Benoît Badiashile. However, they could see Murillo as someone to further strengthen their that particular department.

The London outfit are gearing up for life under the guidance of Enzo Maresca and he will be looking to put his own stamp on his newly inherited squad now the transfer window is open for business.

He was chosen as their replacement for Mauricio Pochettino following his surprise exit following the end of the last campaign. The former Manchester City coach guided Leicester City to promotion from the Championship at the first time of asking last season, winning the title ahead of Ipswich Town in the process.

Nottingham Forest landed Murillo, who is 21-years-old, in August 2023 and he has since become a key player for them. He arrived in England as an unknown quantity after a spell at Corinthians but has adapted well to life in England.

The Sao Paulo-born man made 36 appearances in all competitions last term to help Forest stay in the top flight under Nuno Espirito Santo and won their Player of the Season award in the process.

Murillo is under contract until 2028 meaning his current team can wait for the right offer to arrive for his services before they consider cashing in anytime soon. Chelsea would apparently be interested in sending Chalobah to Nottingham Forest as part of some sort of swap arrangement.

The 24-year-old’s future is up in the air after he only featured on 17 occasions under Pochettino last season. He has been on the books at Stamford Bridge for his whole career to date and has risen up through the academy ranks of the Blues.

The versatile defender was a regular for them at various different youth levels and has also represented England at Under-16’s all the way up to Under-21’s. Chalobah has made 80 first-team appearances for Chelsea to date and has chipped in with five goals.

He has also been loaned out to Ipswich, Huddersfield Town and FC Lorient in the past to get some experience under his belt and boost his development. If a swap deal was to happen, the Sierra Leone-born man would have to be interested in a switch to Nottingham Forest himself.

With Manchester United said to be keen on him though, he may bide his time and wait for better opportunities. Chelsea have too many players in their ranks as it is and offloading Chalobah would be a shrewd bit of business in the near future. It would free up space and funds for them to bring in other reinforcements that fit Maresca’s style.