Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Real Madrid are all eyeing Inter Milan defender Jeison Murillo for a possible summer move
AS Colombia have reported that Jeison Murillo is attracting interest from top clubs around Europe, with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Real Madrid all monitoring the Inter Milan defender for a possible move in the summer.
Jeison Murillo has had a topsy turvy career with Inter Milan. The Colombia international started life with the Nerazzurri strongly as he became a regular under Roberto Mancini. But a poor performance against Lazio saw Murillo being labelled as a “mannequin” by his Inter boss.
His performance levels subsequently dropped, and he started the current campaign under Frank De Boer in an underwhelming fashion. However, the appointment of Stefano Pioli has seen Inter slowly being resurrected and advancing up the table.
Pioli took charge when the Nerazzurri were placed 8th in the Serie A table, and they have climbed up to 4th now. The key factor has been the solidity and stability at the back, and Murillo has been integral to Pioli’s plans in defence, notching up 19 appearances in the Italian top flight and has looked calm and assured while dealing with opposition attacks.
With Murillo regaining his best form for Inter, several clubs have taken notice of his improvements and Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Real Madrid are all starting to show interest in the 24-year-old.
Manchester United have been reported to be in the market for a centre-back despite Jose Mourinho insisting that he’s happy with the central defenders he has at his disposal. Indeed, Chris Smalling, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo have all impressed, but the links with Victor Lindelof, in particular, haven’t stopped surfacing.
Manchester City, meanwhile, have been in complete disarray at the back for large parts of the season with Pep Guardiola struggling to zero in on one stable central defensive partnership. As a result, a new centre-back is reported to be one of the top priorities for the City boss, who also tried to sign Murillo on loan in January.
Arsenal have seen Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny strike a formidable partnership in the heart of defence this season. But beyond them, Arsene Wenger does not have reliable backups at his disposal, with Gabriel being error-prone, Per Mertesacker battling injury problems and Rob Holding being too young.
Finally, Real Madrid are also on the lookout for a new centre-back, with Pepe all set to move to China at the end of the season. They have, thus, been looking for replacements and are currently scouting the market, with Murillo one of the options being considered.
So, it looks like there is no shortage of suitors for Murillo, and with the Colombian continuing to grow in confidence under Pioli, he could be an asset for the club that is able to get its hands on him. However, Inter want Murillo to stay and are even prepared to offer him a renewal. It now remains to be seen where the youngster is at the start of next season.
