Do you factor in age and game time.
Matheus Cunha £62.5m release clause
- Thread starter dinostar77
- Start date
Sounds like an awful lot of money for this guy.
I'd rather spend the money on a proper striker.
I'd rather spend the money on a proper striker.
The same Cunha we were heavily linked with before Wolves signed him for up to £35 million 
Feels overpriced at the moment. Depends on what wage he is happy to take I suppose.
Pretty good goalscoring ability if you ask me and for a pretty poor team.
But I do think we are going for him as a 10 and also bringing in a CF. Which would be pretty perfect.
He's Rashford's replacement. We'll still go for a 9. Plus a lot of teams get goals without having a prolific number 9. Just this guy and Amad makes us a lot more of an attacking threat. Add the new 9 we would be signing be it Delap or Osimhen/Gyokeres/Sesko etc.
I'll be more worried about Onana
Hoping he can bring a Mane to Liverpool like impact.
I’d be in favour of this, we’ve bought too many players that aren’t up to the speed of the PL the past few years and by the time they are it’s too late. Nice footballer to watch.
I think he’s a good PL level player at the right age of his career.
I agree with you, I don’t see him evolving into a superstar or anything, and the money is probably a little higher than we should be paying, but we probably need to be targeting more “PL proven” of this ilk and less Italian/German league players for the same amount of money who are excelling in very hyper specific systems.
I think Cunha is decent, but I don't think he will single handedly change things for us. Seen in the context of an entirely new attack comprising 4 or 5 new players over the next 2 to 3 seasons, then I can see the logic. If you add Cunha to this current team by himself, I think the impact he makes overall is modest.
Cunha/Eze/Mbeumo/J-Ramsey/Xavi Simmons/Cherki
Looks like we have good options to choose from for No-10 role and I think anyone from the above list is an improvement over Garnacho/Zirkzee
Looks like we have good options to choose from for No-10 role and I think anyone from the above list is an improvement over Garnacho/Zirkzee
I think that's worth highlighting, for sure. The problem I have with the argument is that he also isn't a prolific creator, which is the other aspect of being a 10. His return for Wolves is kind of what I'm highlighting really, he's scored 26 goals from 17xG and since the start of 2024 he's overperformed his xG by 8.5. He's not an elite finisher, he's just in the form of his life and we need to spend the money knowing that we'll be buying his actual level, which is much lower.
£62m for 10 goals and 5 assists a season if he does well, on a guy who turns 26 in May because his workrate and physicality is good... maybe that's the going rate nowadays and I'm being harsh on him, but it doesn't feel like good business to me.
He is actually a good player, and he is very technically proficient, as in, good on the ball, we need more of those, and he is the sort of 10 who creates and scores, what's not to like, 62m is steep indeed, but we need him in this squad that lacks players good on the ball
This is probably fair, and I'm sure plays into the need. Although my worry is kind of related to this as well, Wolves play a style of play we're moving away from (transition based) and although he plays in the same position it's going to put far more pressure on him in tight spaces against set defences. Something I'm not sure he's all that suited for.
On the other hand, we really could use more counter attacking threat since Rashford and Martial have left, so maybe it'll work out.
No player can single handedly change things for us. We need investment in all phases of play, but our attack is dreadful. A player who can beat a man consistently, carry the ball over distance and actually can shoot will improve us a lot.
Delap and Cunha would be quite a huge improvement over Hojlund and Garnacho no doubt, I'd prefer another striker alongside Delap, but it's probably not feasible. Osimhem is also vastly overrated, and I doubt Gyokeres will come.
Respectfully this is one of the worst forums when it comes to talent ID. Would only rely on select few members for thoughts on specific players.
Most don't watch Wolves and haven't followed Cunha's career. He's a progressive player with the ball and that's something integral that the 10's need in Amorim's system yet many recommend Mount / Bruno for the same role.
The G/A arguments have distorted the relativity of overall contribution. If we go by that basis Zirkzee would be on the same level as Hojlund but anyone who's seen United play knows that's not the case.
But you have to add in that's for Wolves.
Has to be scaled up when he's playing for a (hopefully) better team
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Does it, though? I don't think it's that simple. Wolves play on the counter, which suits Cunha to the ground. A bit like Elanga, would you really expect his numbers to go up playing for a "better" team that doesn't have so many counter attacking opportunities per game as Forest do?
Cunha is very technical, he's not a pace merchant who would struggle against packed defences. It's nothing like Elanga.
A quick look at FootyStats has him on 14 goals in the league this season, with a total npxG of 14.26, so it looks like he's performing as expected.
He'd likely be playing as one of the 10s, I'd expect pushing Garnacho out to the bench (or there's talk of us selling him for ~£40-50m), so that seems like a good comparison for contribution outside of goals.
Cunha is a more accurate shooter in terms of getting shots on target, and currently has a much better conversion rate. He's got more assists, with a better xA, plays more key passes, and more crosses with better accuracy, and in registers an assist in a quarter of the number of minutes. He creates way more chances and way more big chances. He dribbles a lot more, and his dribbling success rate is much better. Defensively his stats are better too, as he makes more tackles, interceptions, clearances, etc, and enters more duels with a much better success rate.
It's an improvement in basically every department, and on top of that, is much more capable of playing in central areas, so our wing back can actually play as a wingback.
There may be better options out there to bring in, but in a choice between bringing in Cunha and sticking with what we have, it's a no brainer.
Yeah I think generally if a forward is playing for a better team you'd expect their assists and goals to increase. We see that happen over and over again.
I don’t think Cunha suits counter attacking over a possession type team. Not especially anyway. It's not like he's a Rashford/Elanga type.
Having said that I think it's too much money. He's not that good and when the guys current manager is criticising him? Alarm bells should be ringing.
I remember him tearing us apart at Old Trafford last season. Cuts through the team 3 times in the highlights below:
Obviously Ten Hag's non existent midfield helped him there, but feels like he could be a really good fit for what Amorim wants from a 10. Drives forward with the ball, makes aggressive attacking runs and has provided plenty of goals and assists for a struggling team.
One of my main concerns would be (as is often the case signing a player like this from a smaller team) will he be as effective with less space to operate in.
Obviously some character concerns there as well, but I think he'd bring a new element to the team and it's a signing I'd be excited by.
Obviously Ten Hag's non existent midfield helped him there, but feels like he could be a really good fit for what Amorim wants from a 10. Drives forward with the ball, makes aggressive attacking runs and has provided plenty of goals and assists for a struggling team.
One of my main concerns would be (as is often the case signing a player like this from a smaller team) will he be as effective with less space to operate in.
Obviously some character concerns there as well, but I think he'd bring a new element to the team and it's a signing I'd be excited by.
Do we think Bruno would play alongside Cunha in the #10 positions, or would signing Cunha see Bruno's primary role shift to CM for next season?
So we're going for him as a number 10 option + a striker?
Honestly I don't think they did.
He is underrated going by this thread.
Cunha has 37 goal contributions playing as an attacking midfielder over the last 2 seasons. Two very mediocre strikers have gotten double digit goals playing alongside him during the same period. People should be happy United are ging for a PL proven forward which hasn't happened since 2017.
We will have many options with Cunha in the team. It could be Cunha as a LAM next to Bruno. Or he could play next to Amad while Bruno shifts to a deeper role. Or Cunha could play as a CF ahead of Amad and Bruno. It gives us options depending on opponents.
Add Cunha and a quality striker and the squad instantly goes up about 10 levels. Cunha would be perfect we’re desperate for players who can get on the ball and run at the opposition
Great player, but let's not sugar coat it, he seems a bit of a tool. Ability wise I'd be very happy with him.
Bruno is a whiny player but he doesn't have a nasty streak like Cunha seems to, and I don't mean that in a positive sense...
Bruno is a whiny player but he doesn't have a nasty streak like Cunha seems to, and I don't mean that in a positive sense...
, “you can feel he is the most experienced player, the example. Sometimes we start the play and Bruno is the right man to start with the tempo of the play.”
“That is why, I think he is a midfielder. If you see this game, Mason Mount was always with his back to goal, it is hard but Bruno is better with the goal in front.”
This are Amorim quotes on Bruno, I think he sees him as a tempo setting 8 on the long run. Not someone receiving back to goal like the 10s have to.
Maybe this squad needs a bastard to fire it up….theres obviously a line but feck me this squad is soft mentally and physically
I didn't say he was like Elanga as a player, I said they were in similar situations. Cunha is much less pacey than Elanga but he's still a player who does almost all his best work on the transition. Grealish is another example of a player this applies to at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Do we? How many 26 year olds get a big money move and see their goals and assists go up? Grealish is an example above, Lukaku was a bit younger but didn't see an increase when he joined us. Mahrez didn't really score more when he went to City, Neto, Solanke. Those are just a few names off the top of my head from players who moved "up" the Premier League ladder at roughly that age.
Would instantly be our most technical player.
Ready made, PL proven, already playing the position we want him for. (Left sided #10)
Drives forward with the ball at his feet, progressing the team up the pitch. We badly need that.
Get him in. Alongside a striker that can score goals. Bruno, Amad and Cunha will work very well together.
————Striker
Cunha ———- Amad
Ready made, PL proven, already playing the position we want him for. (Left sided #10)
Drives forward with the ball at his feet, progressing the team up the pitch. We badly need that.
Get him in. Alongside a striker that can score goals. Bruno, Amad and Cunha will work very well together.
————Striker
Cunha ———- Amad
Imagine Cunha and Cherki? If you can channel that aggression and attitude in the right way, you've got a great pair of 10s.
Understat has him at 14 goals from 7.16 xG, fbref has him at 14 goals from 7.3xG. Can I politely suggest you might be looking at npxG+xAG (which is 14.1 on fbref and 13.57 on understat)? Either that or FootyStats xG model is absolutely nonsense.
Just to make it absolutely clear though, he is over-performing his xG by double this season according to every reasonable model https://www.instagram.com/officialwhoscored/p/DEKF2w5xrOt/
Bruno is a flexible player. It could be a combination of:
************ CF *************
** Cunha ********** Bruno **
Or with Bruno in a deeper role and:
************ CF **************
** Cunha ********** Zirkzee **
I think thats plausible, or at the very least, that might increasingly be the plan in games where its up to us to break down the opposition. At the very least it gives us a wider range of options. Quite often this season it would have been good to have Bruno at CM for his creativity, or for that matter Amad at RWB to offer more direct threat from wide, but we had to play them at number 10 simply because it was the least bad configuration of our resources.
There was a little interaction between Amorim and Cunha not long after the start of the Utd vs Wolves match. I do not know if many even noticed it, as it was so short but they exchanged smiles and he jokingly threw the ball to a different player when Cunha was right next to him. It might be nothing but it was not the sort of thing you see during a PL game.
Personally, I think he is a very good PL proven level player who fits a genuine need for United. Some question his character, I question the lack of desire from others to have worn the shirt in recent years. He wants to win and you cannot have enough of that in the squad.
Is the quoted price steep? Not when you compare him to Hojlund, Sancho or Antony, three attacking players United have splashed out big money on in recent years that have failed dramatically.
If Cunha arrives at Old Trafford, I will welcome him. The club will still want a genuine striker, ideally Gyökeres. A front line featuring those two would be markedly different to the current attack.
Personally, I think he is a very good PL proven level player who fits a genuine need for United. Some question his character, I question the lack of desire from others to have worn the shirt in recent years. He wants to win and you cannot have enough of that in the squad.
Is the quoted price steep? Not when you compare him to Hojlund, Sancho or Antony, three attacking players United have splashed out big money on in recent years that have failed dramatically.
If Cunha arrives at Old Trafford, I will welcome him. The club will still want a genuine striker, ideally Gyökeres. A front line featuring those two would be markedly different to the current attack.
You are forgetting our best attacker - Amad.