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Ancelotti's Decision Warns Florentino, who Already Has a Center-Back for Real Madrid

The Real Madrid coach has intervened in the search for a center-back and found the ideal one: Florentino knows it.

Carlo Ancelotti has taken the reins of the situation and wants to intervene directly in the search for a central defender for Real Madrid. The coach is analyzing the market and seems to have found the ideal transfer to strengthen the Merengue defense next January transfer window. We are talking about Murillo, a Brazilian center-back from Nottingham Forest.

Murillo, 22, arrived at Nottingham in summer 2023 from Brazil and the truth is that his level, so far, has been very high. He's having a great performance in the Premier League and his value has skyrocketed. From the 12 million euros paid for him a year and a half ago, he now costs more than 40 million.

He's aroused the interest of major European teams, to the point that Carlo Ancelotti has set his sights on him. The coach has already communicated his interest to Florentino Pérez, although he knows it will be difficult. Although he has a say in the decisions, the final decision will always be in the hands of the president. In this case, the president prefers to opt for other profiles.

Football player in a red Nottingham Forest jersey on the playing field.
Murillo | Getty Images

Florentino to Choose: Murillo is Not a Real Option for Real Madrid

Despite Ancelotti's words, the reality is that the president's plans seem to be going in another direction. The investment to be made for Murillo would be too high for a player who's not convincing or has the desired status. Florentino prefers to opt for other players, whom he has on the list and whom he likes more than the Brazilian.

Laporte's name is also on the table, but there are problems. He told Real Madrid about "his total willingness" to sign him in January. In addition, he agreed to lower the salary he receives at Al-Nassr. This is all very well, but there's a problem with this operation. He's one of the main assets of the Saudi Arabian team, which doesn't need any money.

A little over a year ago, Al-Nassr paid almost 30 million euros for Aymeric Laporte. now they are asking for a similar figure to let him leave for Madrid. Florentino knows that in order to sign the Spanish international he'll have to shell out around 25 million euros, a figure that doesn't satisfy him. He is a top-class defender, but too old for the monetary demands placed on him.

Carlo Ancelotti | Getty Images

In any case, the price to be paid for the Spanish international would be much lower than the demands that Nottingham have made for Murillo. It seems that Ancelotti will have to look elsewhere.