Nottingham Forest defender ‘gaining traction’ as £15m transfer option | OneFootball

Benfica are monitoring Nottingham Forest centre-back Jair Cunha, with his name “gaining traction” as a £15m transfer option, RTI Esporte reports.

The Brazilian joined Forest 12 months ago and struggled for regular minutes. He made his Premier League debut against Newcastle United in October, then waited until March for his next top-flight outing. He finished last season with 15 appearances in all competitions, 11 starts.

Benfica are seeking defensive reinforcements, with Antonio Silva said to be close to Bournemouth. The club have admired Jair since his Santos days, then continued to monitor him after Botafogo and following his move to the City Ground in summer 2025. Considered comfortable on the ball and able to build from deep, he is viewed as fitting boss Marco Silva’s profile and could be offered more minutes in 2026/27 than at Forest.

Any fee is claimed to be up to €18 million, or £15m. Brazilian side Vasco da Gama have also been linked.

Oliver Glasner prefers a back three and has Murillo, Nikola Milenkovic, Morato and Zach Abbott among his centre-back options. Forest also hope to add Sporting Lisbon’s Ousmane Diomande.

Jair has played 45 minutes in each of Forest’s first two pre-season friendlies. Against Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday, he drove forward to help countryman Igor Jesus open the scoring.

Source: Nottingham Post