Wolves star is ready-made for Ruben Amorim's system and can help goal-shy Red Devils solve two major problems
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.
What Transpired
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.
Last weekend Matheus Cunha moved to within
one strike of equalling Firmino and Martinelli's joint-best tallies of 15 goals
in a season when he netted in his comeback game against Tottenham. 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 and then at first struggling to find his feet with Wolves. But in the last two seasons he has located his feet and found that they are rather useful at scoring goals. 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. And his next opponents Manchester United should be doing everything to make sure they are his next destination...
The Superior Picture
Matheus Cunha Wolves Man UtdGetty
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 16th 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.
And United have first-hand experience of
his goal threat. 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 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 Andre Onana directly from a corner.
Amorim's biggest Concern
Cunha is one of several attacking targets
United are looking at in order to solve their biggest problem of all. Ruben
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 and 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 not delivering. Alejandro
Garnacho 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. The
Dutchman has not scored a league goal since December 1.
Ipswich Town FC v Southampton FC - Premier
LeagueGetty Images Sport
A safer bet than Delap
Cunha is among United's main attacking
targets along with Liam Delap after they decided that Viktor Gyokeres was too
expensive at £80 million ($106m). The Brazilian is slightly cheaper after
signing a new contract with Wolves containing a release clause of £62m ($82m),
around double the price Delap would cost. 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 best 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
he 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 and 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.
Did You Known
Another advantage Cunha has is 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 in
December. Having a player used to operating as a narrow No.10 must be appealing
to Amorim as 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. While 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 next to
him. And who better to take it than Cunha?
The Brazilian played in a 3-4-2-1 on numerous occasions under O'Neil, the man who he credits with tuning his career around. Cunha told The Guardian 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."
"I love working with him. His talent is incredible, obviously. But if you watch the top players, they’re able to do it week in week out. Watch people like Bernardo Silva, Martin Odegaard. They’re all top with or without the ball and Matheus, the numbers he’s producing at the minute are up there with everybody. There’s no limit to where he can get to, ability-wise. He’s going to stay at Wolves for as long as possible firstly but after that there’s no limit to where he can go."
Cunha had struggled to impress O'Neil's
predecessor Julen Lopetegui, scoring two goals in 12 starts in the latter half
of the 2022-23 season after joining on loan from Atletico Madrid. His
experience working under Diego Simeone was even more miserable, as he started
10 league games in two years in the Spanish capital following a €30m
(£25m/$34m) move from Hertha Berlin, on the back of winning the gold medal with
Brazil at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
His lack of playing time at Atletico led to
him not making the Brazil squad for the 2022 World Cup and he was not the only
one furious with Simeone for not giving him more chances. When he left Atletico
for Wolves his father Carmelo sought to explain why he had struggled to thrive
at the Metropolitano: "With Simeone's system, there's no way a striker can
be successful. It's very difficult."
The player also reflected on his unhappy
stay in Spain in his interview with The Guardian. He recalled: “I felt bad,
really bad. I suffered a lot. I felt a lot not to have played the World Cup and
I felt even worse because I didn’t go to the World Cup because I wasn’t playing
for my club. I had the feeling that I just wanted an opportunity to show my
football and be able to fight for a place on a more equal footing."
What Next for Manchester United and Cuna
Cunha has certainly shown his true ability
as a footballer at Wolves and he has made no secret about the fact he wants to
head to a big club, having turned down the chance to leave in January. "I
had a lot of offers but I wouldn’t feel well if I had done it,” he said.
"Some things you can’t control but I couldn’t leave the club in the middle
of the season, in a difficult situation, in the relegation zone. Now, we’re
close to achieving our goal. But I’ve made it clear that I need to take the next
step. I want to fight for titles, for big things."
Those comments did not go down well with
Wolves fans and led to Cunha getting into an online spat with a popular fan
site. His outburst was another sign of his forceful personality, which he had
already demonstrated in two shocking incidents on the pitch. The first saw him
elbow an Ipswich staff member and grab his glasses off his face after Wolves'
last-gasp defeat to the Tractor Boys in December. He was banned for two matches
following an FA investigation. He was then banned for four games for punching
and head-butting Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez.
Cunha's temperament might put certain clubs
off him but it could be argued that United could do with a player with the
Brazilian's desire to win. Indeed, players with volcanic personalities have
often thrived at United. Just look at Roy Keane and Eric Cantona. For too long,
United have had players unwilling to rock the boat, who have been too
comfortable with the club's slide towards mediocrity. Bruno Fernandes is the
one player who breaks with the mould, and last month Amorim declared: "We
need more Brunos."
Conclusion
They certainly need more goals, and Cunha has scored more than any United player in the last two seasons while carrying Wolves on his back. If United are serious about being a top club again then they need more top players. Cunha is undoubtedly one and after a long struggle he is entering his prime. United need to make sure he spends it at Old Trafford.
