Nottingham Forest close on Arsenal outcast and Brazilian defender transfers
Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has revealed deals to sign Nuno Tavares and Murillo “are at the final stages”.
Forest have been reported to be close to signing left-back Tavares on a season-long loan from Arsenal and have agreed a fee of around £15million for the permanent signing of defender Murillo, 21, from Brazilian club Corinthians.
Cooper, whose side play at Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, said: “I do believe there’s a couple of players, Tavares and Murillo, that are at the final stages. Not quite done, but the process is ticking along quite nicely.
“I hope I haven’t gone too soon on that because until things are officially done then you never quite know.
“There’s a lot of work going on and maybe there’s some things that are being speculated that are very true and some that couldn’t be any further away from the truth.”
With the transfer window set to close at 11pm on Friday, Cooper said there had been no further developments regarding the possible departure of Brennan Johnson, who has been heavily linked with Tottenham.
The club confirmed on Thursday that midfielder Lewis O’Brien had joined Middlesbrough on a season-long loan.
Other in-comings linked with Forest include Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi and Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, while a swap deal has reportedly been agreed for Bologna midfielder Nico Dominguez, with Reds midfielder Remo Freuler going the other way.
Cooper did not confirm whether skipper Joe Worrall will return to the side for Saturday’s trip to Stamford Bridge following the death of his uncle, police officer Sergeant Graham Saville, who was hit by a train last Thursday while trying to save a distressed man on railway tracks.
Forest defender Worrall missed Wednesday night’s home Carabao Cup defeat to Burnley through suspension after his dismissal at Manchester United last week.
“Family always comes first,” Cooper added. “Joe has been dealing with an awful tragedy and has lost someone who was very close to him.
“When any of our players or staff have difficult moments, we like to think here our biggest strength is how we come together.
