£15m Nottingham Forest star says his Mum absolutely ‘loves’ 31-year-old Liverpool player

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Nottingham Forest defender Murillo was delighted to come up against Liverpool in October.

The Brazilian centre-back has looked like a good addition for Forest since arriving for £15m this summer. But he was powerless to stop Liverpool running away with a 3-0 win at Anfield.

Despite the defeat though, Murillo has admitted to The Telegraph that simply playing against one of the Reds’ goal-scorers on the day made it a success for he and his family.

“My objective is to come out on top and be the best, whoever I am up against,” said the 21-year-old. “I have already marked Mo Salah, and my mum loves him!

“I’m also looking forward to facing Richarlison and [Erling] Haaland. These are the players you want to test yourself against. I hate losing and winning is everything.”

Murillo honoured to face Salah

There is an imposter among the three players Murillo mentions, but we’ll let you work out who that is.

Instead, we’ll focus on just how big of a player our Egyptian King now is. Having been tearing up the Premier League for years, Salah is now one of the star names of the division.

Opposition defenders are honoured to simply be on the same pitch as the 31-year-old.

With that in mind, it’s also worth noting what kind of affect this has on potential new signings. Jurgen Klopp is often seen as being the biggest draw for players to move to Liverpool.

But what about Salah? Young players now will have grown up with the Egypt captain ripping apart defences for the Reds.

Whether you’re a defender, midfielder, striker, why would you not want to see that up close and be a part of it.

That’s why, along with any sporting reasons, Liverpool have to do all they can to keep Salah beyond the summer.

If they can stave off interest from Saudi Arabia and keep the former Roma man around, it will send a message to prospective signings. Lose Mo, and it may make attracting new players more difficult.

Of course, Liverpool is bigger than any player who plays for the club. The pull of the Reds goes deeper than the attraction of playing with any one star. However, as Murillo’s words show once again, Liverpool have themselves a superstar of the game. They should use that to every advantage they can.