The Brazilian is looking to make a step up after realising his 'limitless' potential at Molineux, and he can give United the shake-up they need
Think of all the great Brazilian attacking players to have graced the Premier League and the clubs they played for. Think of Gabriel Jesus or Robinho at Manchester City, Roberto Firmino or Philippe Coutinho's best years for Liverpool, Gabriel Martinelli's recent progress with Arsenal or Willian at Chelsea. Then consider that one player is set to usurp them all as the Brazilian to score the most goals in a single campaign. And he plays for Wolves.
Matheus Cunha is within one strike of equalling Firmino and Martinelli's joint-best tallies of 15 goals in a season after netting against Tottenham earlier this month. And if he had not been suspended for a total of six games, he would likely be way ahead of those other big names.
Cunha has had a rough road to the top, breaking through in the Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin but then flopping after a big-money move to Atletico Madrid before struggling to find his feet with Wolves. But in the last two seasons, he has rediscovered his scoring touch to devastating effect. The 25-year-old has almost single-handedly kept Wolves in the Premier League in the last two seasons and now he is looking for a new challenge.
Arsenal and Chelsea have both been mooted as potential suitors, but a report from on Tuesday revealed that Cunha has held positive talks with Manchester United regarding a potential £62.5 million ($84m) move to Old Trafford. Such a move would be ideal for the Red Devils as they truly begin to rebuild under Ruben Amorim…
Getty Thorn in their side
Cunha has contributed to 37 Premier League goals in the last two seasons, accounting for 38 percent of Wolves' total goals in that time. And despite playing for a team sat 15th in the table – and who finished 14th last year – he has scored more goals (12 last season and 14 this term) and has more goal contributions (seven assists last year, four this) in either season than any United player.
United have first-hand experience of his goal threat, too, as he terrorised the Red Devils in the opening game of last season at Old Trafford, which United ended up winning 1-0 thanks to the hugely controversial decision to not award Wolves a stoppage-time penalty for Andre Onana's assault on Sasa Kalajdzic. Cunha carved his way through the United defence as many as three times, while also firing just wide on a separate occasion as well as hitting the post from close range.
He then set-up Pedro Neto's equaliser in the thrilling 4-3 win at Molineux later in the season, and he was Wolves' talisman in United's 2-0 defeat at the same ground this season on Boxing Day, when he scored an 'Olimpico', fooling Onana directly from a corner.
AdvertisementGettyAmorim's biggest concern
Cunha is one of several attacking targets United are looking at in order to solve their biggest problem of all. Amorim said he was concerned about the team's lack of goals after his first game in charge back in November, and five months later there has been barely any improvement in that department.
The Red Devils have averaged 1.2 goals per Premier League game this season, with only Everton, plus the bottom four of West Ham, Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton, scoring fewer. Amorim was so unimpressed with United's attackers that he sent Antony and Marcus Rashford out on loan in January, while earlier this month he claimed that Harry Maguire was his biggest goal threat after sending the centre-back up front in the final eight minutes against Nottingham Forest. It was not such a crazy statement after all, as in those few moments Maguire created more expected goals (xG) than Rasmus Hojlund had in his previous 15 games – and just look at the impact he had in the dramatic Europa League win over Lyon.
Hojlund, who has only scored two Premier League goals under Amorim, is not the only one who is failing to deliver. Alejandro Garnacho, for example, has only netted twice in the league in that same period. Indeed, it says a lot about United's season that Joshua Zirkzee injuring his hamstring and being ruled out for the rest of the campaign was seen as such a huge blow given the Dutchman has not scored a league goal since December 1.
Getty Images SportSafer bet than Delap
Cunha is among United's main attacking targets along with Ipswich Town's Liam Delap after they decided that Viktor Gyokeres was too expensive at £80 million ($106m). The Brazilian is a slightly cheaper option than the Sporting CP star after signing a new contract with Wolves that contains a release clause, though he would still come at double the price of Delap.
But while Delap has a lot of potential, United need a guarantee of attacking quality rather than just the promise of it. After all, they decided to sign Hojlund over Harry Kane in 2023, against the wishes of Erik ten Hag, and their gamble on the Dane fulfilling his potential has badly backfired. Selling Hojlund to sign Delap could turn out to be a like-for-like swap, replacing one young centre-forward with another, with no guarantee that the young Englishman will handle the burden of being the Red Devils' leading man any better than the Dane. Cunha is a safer bet and could solve two problems for United at the same time.
Although he is Wolves' top source of goals, Cunha is not a No.9 like Delap or Hojlund, but a left-sided No.10, as useful creating chances as he is scoring them. He is not just his club's top scorer, he is their leading creator of chances in open play and has the highest number of expected assists, even though wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri has more actual assists. Cunha would likely raise United's goal count considerably by scoring plenty himself while also improving his team-mates numbers. Indeed, there is a scenario where he ends up unlocking Hojlund's potential by raising the quality of their attacking play in every sense.
Getty Ready-made for Amorim's system
Another advantage Cunha has is that he already plays in the same system he would be utilised in under Amorim at United. He has been playing in a 3-4-2-1 since Vitor Pereira succeeded Gary O'Neil at Wolves in December, and having a player who is used to operating as a narrow No.10 must be appealing to Amorim given Garnacho, Rashford and Antony all struggled to adjust to the new role.
While Bruno Fernandes has rediscovered his attacking mojo in recent weeks, the Portuguese sees himself as a deeper-lying playmaker in the future, sitting further back in midfield, and though Amad Diallo is certain to take up one of the two positions behind the centre-forward when he recovers from his ankle injury, there is likely to be a vacant spot on the opposite flank. Who better to take it than Cunha?
The Brazilian played in a 3-4-2-1 on numerous occasions under O'Neil, the man whom he credits with tuning his career around. Cunha told last month: "Gary understood me completely. He came in and said: 'Man, I think you’re an incredible person, but you need affection. And I’m going to give you affection. I’m going to complain when I need to complain, but I’m almost going to be family for you'. When someone sees something in you beyond the player, it touches you. These conversations and these lessons were of great importance in my life."