Nottingham Forest defender Murillo shouldn’t expect a Brazil recall any time soon, despite remaining a regular at the City Ground.
That’s according to TNT Sports journalist Vitor Sérgio Rodrigues, who has shared some pretty strong information on how Carlo Ancelotti’s staff currently view the centre-back.
His full statement isn’t particularly encouraging for Murillo. He’s said to be “off the radar”, with concerns over parts of his game and one particularly painful Brazil memory still counting against him.
Brazil staff have concerns about Murillo
Rodrigues says this view actually predates Ancelotti. Some members of the previous Brazil set-up stayed on, and their assessment of Murillo hasn’t changed.
“This goes back to the previous staff and people who remained from that set-up, with the same view continuing under Ancelotti. The information is that Brazil’s coaching staff don’t believe Murillo is currently at the level required to play for the Brazilian national team,” he said.
“They think his decision-making is poor and that he isn’t good in the air. There’s also something which I think is absurd, but it happens. He’s still paying for that disaster against Argentina in Buenos Aires.”
“So don’t expect Nottingham Forest’s Murillo to be called up in the short term.”
That Argentina match needs some context. Brazil were hammered 4-1 in Buenos Aires in March 2025, during manager Dorival Júnior’s final days in charge. Murillo had a nightmare. He was involved in mistakes for Argentina’s opening two goals and came off at half-time.
It was a huge episode in Brazil, and the defender was heavily criticised afterwards. According to Rodrigues, that night hasn’t been forgotten by those around the national team.
Forest teammate picked ahead of him
Rodrigues says he had already warned during the World Cup that Murillo wasn’t particularly close to a call-up.
“A new cycle has started, he wasn’t in the first squad and he won’t be there any time soon.”
“Is that definitive? No. But the information I have is that this coaching staff don’t believe Murillo is currently at the level required for the Brazilian national team.”
There’s also an awkward Nottingham Forest comparison. We’ve already covered Jair Cunha’s reaction to receiving his Brazil call-up. Rodrigues points out that Ancelotti’s staff selected Murillo’s Forest teammate despite him playing considerably less.
“So much so that they called up a player who plays less than Murillo does at club level. Jair plays less than Murillo, both in terms of quality and minutes, and Jair was called up.”
“Take note: this coaching staff aren’t going to call Murillo up in the short term. They aren’t.”
“Only if he improves a lot. Only if he improves a lot. Maybe if he moves to a bigger club than Nottingham, because it’s also easy to just say, ‘Ah, he’s at Nottingham’. It will be harder to leave him out if he’s at Liverpool or Chelsea, for example.”
Completely off Brazil’s radar
Rodrigues even recalled Murillo wasn’t even included on the preliminar 55-player list considered by the national team before the World Cup.
“Just to remind you: Murillo wasn’t on the list of 55, okay? Nottingham Forest’s Murillo wasn’t even on the 55-man list.”
“They’re completely convinced about him. He’s a player who’s off the radar. He’s a player who’s off the radar.”
“This isn’t guesswork. I’m bringing you information that I’ve heard from people close to the work being done there.”
None of this makes a future return impossible. Rodrigues makes that clear himself.
For now, though, it sounds like Murillo has a lot of convincing to do. Simply playing regularly for Nottingham Forest doesn’t appear to be enough.
