Jair Cunha’s Brazil call-up sends a message to Murillo at Nottingham Forest

There is a tradition at Nottingham Forest. When a player is celebrating their birthday or a first international call-up, they have to give a speech at the end of the squad’s next analysis meeting.

Even as recently as this summer, few people would have predicted it would soon be Jair Cunha’s turn to stand up in front of his team-mates following his first senior Brazil selection, as happened on Thursday.

According to Forest head coach Oliver Glasner, it was a speech that amounted to no more than a “few nice words” from the 21-year-old centre-back. After all, Cunha has shown his ability through actions, not words, in recent months at Forest.

Since his appointment in July, Glasner says the 6ft 6in (198cm) defender has stood out for his work rate and desire to improve on the training ground.

A member of Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil coaching staff attended last weekend’s goalless draw with Tottenham Hotspur. Word about Cunha’s quality must have got back to the former Real Madrid and Chelsea coach, who has called him up for two friendlies against Australia and one with India during the September-October international break.

With respect to Cunha — who has thoroughly impressed while playing all four of Glasner’s games so far — some might have viewed his Forest team-mates Igor Jesus or Murillo as more likely to be included in Ancelotti’s latest squad.

In November 2024, Murillo received his first senior-side call-up — at a time when he had already attracted interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Real Madrid. He had to wait until March to make his debut, in a World Cup qualifier against Argentina. Brazil lost 4-1 in Buenos Aires, Murillo was substituted at half-time (when it was 3-1) having been booked, and he is yet to be called up again.

When asked if seeing Cunha be called up now might be a spur for the 24-year-old Murillo, Glasner said: “I hope that he does not need this motivation. Every player should have an intrinsic motivation to improve and to be rewarded for that by being called up to play for their country.

“The focus must be to do what Jair has done, from day one (of Glasner’s time at the club), to get called up. I have spoken before about the difference between ‘wish’ and ‘goal’. Many have the wish and do not do anything to achieve it. If it is your goal, you have to invest in it. You have to work very hard, because there are hundreds of players who want to play for their country.

“I don’t know how many thousands of good Brazilian players there are around the world, but if you want to be part of the top 26, you must be fantastic. To get that reward, you have to work really, really hard; then it can happen. That is what Jair has done.”

There was a brief spell last summer when Forest could have fielded an all-Brazilian back four and goalkeeper.

The triple signing of Jesus, Cunha and wing-back Cuiabano for a combined fee of around £40million ($54m at current exchange rates) from Botafogo was followed by a fourth addition from the same Rio de Janeiro club, goalkeeper John Victor. That bolstered a Brazilian contingent at the City Ground that already included Murillo and fellow defender Morato.

Perhaps there is now the chance of Brazil’s national team having a Forest flavour to it — if Murillo and Jesus, who has five Brazil caps, can get themselves back in the picture.

Cunha’s strength has been in replicating some of the things that helped Murillo build his reputation in England. Against Tottenham, he made eight clearances, including five headed ones, during a game in which his determined attitude stood out.

He is predominantly a strong defender, with his six clearances per 90 minutes close to the 6.7 averages of colleagues Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo. But he is also capable on the ball, both when carrying out of defence and passing.

Murillo is working to gain full match sharpness in these early weeks of the new season, with Glasner previously questioning whether he had enjoyed too much of a good summer while recovering from the April hamstring injury that ended his season prematurely.

Oliver Glasner says Murillo’s fitness is getting ‘better and better’ (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

The former Corinthians player only returned to action during the training camp in Portugal in July. Glasner felt he was not initially in the condition he would have liked — but has been happier with his progress since.

“His fitness is getting better and better,” Glasner said. “It is about getting rhythm. He has been involved in every training session, he has played in most of the games and he is getting closer and closer to his top fitness level.

“It might have taken longer than we expected and he has produced OK performances. But we all know that his standards are not to be an OK player. They are to be a top player, a top defender — he has all the potential and skills for this. We will support him until he is, hopefully, even better than he has been before. He is really working hard. He is on track.”

Cunha made six Premier League starts and three substitute appearances last season, including in the decisive wins at Sunderland (5-0) and Chelsea (3-1) that helped relegation candidates Forest edge towards safety under Glasner’s predecessor Vitor Pereira.

The €40million (£34.3m; $46.2m) signing of Ousmane Diomande from Sporting CP last month was a landmark one for Glasner. The Austrian believed that he, along with Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic, could form a similar central defensive trio to the one he built his successful Crystal Palace sides around.

But while Diomande has been building his own fitness following a disrupted pre-season, Cunha has been ever-present. He has taken his chance to pin down a starting place at club level — and international recognition has followed.

He will hope to continue doing his talking on the pitch.