After recognizing his “limitless” potential at Molineux, the Brazilian is eager to advance and can provide United with the necessary shake-up.
The Premier League and the teams they played for have been blessed by a number of outstanding Brazilian attacking players. Consider Willian at Chelsea or Gabriel Martinelli’s recent success with Arsenal, Robinho or Gabriel Jesus at Manchester City, or Roberto Firmino or Philippe Coutinho’s finest years at Liverpool. Think about how one player will surpass them all as the Brazilian with the most goals in a single season. He is also a Wolves player.
After scoring against Tottenham earlier this month, Matheus Cunha is just one goal away from matching Firmino and Martinelli’s joint-best season goal totals of 15 goals. And he probably would have been much ahead of those other well-known players if he hadn’t been suspended for six games in total.
Cunha’s path to the top has been difficult; he made his Bundesliga debut with Hertha Berlin, then faltered after a high-profile transfer to Atletico Madrid, before finding it difficult to settle with Wolves. However, he has devastatingly recovered his scoring touch in the previous two seasons. The 25-year-old is searching for a fresh challenge after nearly keeping Wolves in the Premier League on his own for the past two seasons.
Cunha has had encouraging discussions with Manchester United over a possible £62.5 million ($84 million) move to Old Trafford, according to a story published on Tuesday by The Athletic. Arsenal and Chelsea have also been mentioned as possible bidders. The Red Devils would be well served by such a trade as they start to rebuild under Ruben Amorim.
A thorn on their side
Cunha has scored 37 Premier League goals in the past two seasons, which makes up 38% of Wolves’ overall goal total during that time. And even though he played for a team that finished 14th last season and 15th this season, he has scored more goals (12 this season and 14 last) and contributed more goals (four this season and seven last year) than any other United player.
He terrorized the Red Devils in the first game of the previous season at Old Trafford, which United won 1-0 thanks to the highly contentious decision to deny Wolves a stoppage-time penalty for Andre Onana’s attack on Sasa Kalajdzic. United has also seen firsthand his goal threat. Cunha broke past the United defense up to three times, missed a shot on another occasion, and struck the post from a close distance.
Later in the season, he assisted Pedro Neto in equalizing in the exciting 4-3 victory at Molineux. On Boxing Day of same season, he scored a ‘Olimpico’ to help Wolves upset United 2-0 at the same stadium.
Amorim’s primary worry
United is considering a number of attacking targets, including Cunha, in an attempt to address their most pressing issue. After his first game in charge in November, Amorim expressed concern about the team’s goalless record, and five months later, he claims there hasn’t been much of an improvement.
With an average of 1.2 goals per Premier League game this season, the Red Devils are the only team to score fewer than Everton and the bottom four teams of Southampton, West Ham, Ipswich Town, and Leicester City. After playing the center-back up front in the final eight minutes against Nottingham Forest earlier this month, Amorim declared that Harry Maguire was his best goal threat. In January, he moved Antony and Marcus Rashford out on loan because he was so dissatisfied with United’s attacking players. It was not such a wild claim after all, since Maguire scored more anticipated goals (xG) in those brief seconds than Rasmus Hojlund had in his 15 games prior. Just take a look at the influence he had in the thrilling Europa League victory over Lyon.
Hojlund is not the only player who is falling short; under Amorim, he has only managed to score two Premier League goals. For instance, in that same time frame, Alejandro Garnacho has only scored twice in the league. Given that Joshua Zirkzee hasn’t scored a league goal since December 1, it speaks much about United’s season that the Dutchman’s hamstring injury and subsequent suspension for the remainder of the season was viewed as such a severe setback.
safer alternative to Delap
Liam Delap of Ipswich Town and Cunha are two of United’s primary attacking targets after they determined that Viktor Gyokeres was too costly at £80 million ($106 million). The Brazilian, who signed a new contract with Wolves that includes a release clause, is a slightly less expensive option than the Sporting CP star, but he would still cost twice as much as Delap.
Although there is a lot of potential in Delap, United needs more than just the promise of offensive quality. In 2023, they chose to sign Hojlund over Harry Kane, despite Erik ten Hag’s pleas, and their risk of the Dane reaching his full potential has really backfired. Selling Hojlund to acquire Delap might end up being a like-for-like trade, swapping out one young center-forward for another, and there’s no assurance that the young Englishman will be able to carry the weight of leading the Red Devils any better than the Dane. Cunha is a more secure option and has the potential to address two issues for United simultaneously.
Despite being Wolves’ leading goal scorer, Cunha is a left-sided No. 10 who is just as good at creating opportunities as he is at scoring them. He is not a No. 9 like Delap or Hojlund. Although wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri has more actual assists, he is not only his team’s top scorer but also their top creator of open-play opportunities and has the most expected assists. Cunha would probably increase United’s goal total significantly by increasing his teammates’ stats and scoring a lot of goals himself. In fact, there is a chance that he will improve Hojlund’s aggressive performance in every way, thereby unleashing their full potential.
For Amorim’s system, ready-made
Cunha also benefits from the fact that he now plays in the same system that Amorim would use at United. Since Vitor Pereira replaced Gary O’Neil at Wolves in December, he has been playing in a 3-4-2-1. Given that Garnacho, Rashford, and Antony all had trouble adjusting to the new role, Amorim must find it tempting to have a player who is accustomed to playing as a narrow No. 10.
The Portuguese sees himself as a deeper-lying playmaker in the future, sitting further back in midfield, even though Bruno Fernandes has recently found his attacking groove again. Amad Diallo will undoubtedly occupy one of the two positions behind the center-forward once he recovers from his ankle injury, but there will probably be a spot available on the opposite flank. Cunha is the best person to take it.
Under O’Neil, the coach he credits with turning his career around, the Brazilian played in a 3-4-2-1 on multiple occasions. Last month, Cunha told The Guardian: “Gary really understood me. “Dude, I think you’re a great person, but you need love,” he stated as he entered. I will also show you affection. Even if I’m going to be your family, I’ll still whine when I have to. It affects you when someone notices something in you that goes beyond the player. These discussions and the principles they taught me were crucial to my life.
“Unbounded talent”
After the former Atletico player led the team to a 4-1 victory at Fulham in November, O’Neil took stock of how much Cunha had developed under his tutelage: “Everyone knows how important he is to us, but it’s also important to recognise the work that he’s put in since he has been here.” The Matheus Cunha who came to Wolves is not this one. I enjoy working with him because it’s clear that he has what it takes to be a great player. He strives to be the best version of himself every day, even though there were gaps in the past.
O’Neil went on, “I love working with him.” “His skill is certainly amazing. But the best players can do it every single week if you watch them. Pay attention to individuals such as Martin Odegaard and Bernardo Silva. Both with and without the ball, they are all at the top, and Matheus’s current output is on par with everyone else’s. In terms of ability, there is no restriction on where he can reach. There is no limit to where he can go after first staying at Wolves for as long as feasible.
Showing Simeone to be mistaken
During the second half of the 2022–23 season, Cunha joined on loan from Atletico and only managed to score two goals in 12 starts, failing to impress O’Neil’s predecessor Julen Lopetegui. Following a €30 million (£25 million/$34 million) move from Hertha Berlin, he started just 10 league games in two years in the Spanish capital after winning the gold medal with Brazil at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, making his time working under Diego Simeone even more unhappy.
He didn’t make the Brazil team for the 2022 World Cup because he didn’t get enough playing time in Madrid, and he wasn’t the only one who was upset with Simeone for not giving him more opportunities. When Cunha left Atletico for Wolves, his father Carmelo tried to explain why he hadn’t been able to succeed at the Metropolitano: “A striker can’t succeed in Simeone’s system. It’s really challenging.
In his interview with The Guardian, the athlete also talked about his unpleasant time in Spain, stating: “I felt bad, really bad.” I went through a lot of pain. The fact that I wasn’t playing for my club prevented me from attending the World Cup, which made me feel even worse. I felt that all I needed was a chance to demonstrate my football skills and be able to compete for a spot on a level playing field.
United has to have more potent qualities.
Cunha has made no secret of his ambition to join a large team since turning down the chance to leave in January, and he has surely shown his true football abilities at Wolves. He said, “I had a lot of offers, but I wouldn’t feel well if I did it.” “There are some things you can’t control, but I couldn’t abandon the team in the middle of the season, in a difficult situation, or in the relegation zone. Now, we are quite near to achieving our goal. But I’ve made it clear that I have to move forward. I wish to contend for important championships and events.
Cunha got into an online argument with a well-known fan site as a result of those remarks, which did not sit well with Wolves fans. He had previously displayed his powerful attitude in two startling on-field situations, and this outburst was only another example. In the first, he grabbed his glasses off his face and elbowed an Ipswich employee following Wolves’ dramatic loss to the Tractor Boys in December. The FA looked into the incident and banned him for two games. He then received a four-game suspension for hitting and head-butting Milos Kerkez of Bournemouth during the FA Cup.
Some clubs could be scared off by Cunha’s temperament, but it could be argued that United would benefit from a player who shares the Brazilian’s drive for success. It’s true that players with fiery personalities have frequently succeeded at United; just take a look at Eric Cantona or Roy Keane. Players at United have been too content with the team’s decline into mediocrity and unwilling to upset the status quo for far too long. Amorim said last month, “We need more Brunos.” Fernandes is the one player that deviates from the norm.
Cunha has scored more goals than any other United player in the past two seasons despite carrying Wolves on his back, and they undoubtedly need more goals. More elite players are required if the Red Devils are serious about becoming a top team once more. One of those is definitely Cunha, who is finally reaching his peak after a protracted battle. Old Trafford is where United must make sure he spends it.
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