Matheus Cunha shot into stardom while playing for Wolves, but he was always going to be chased by the biggest clubs, and Ruben Amorim will have been well aware of that fact.
Perhaps that’s why he went out of his way to speak to Cunha back in April, after Wolves did the double over United beating them 1-0 at Old Trafford.
Cunha got on the scoresheet back in December at Molineux, but he was equally instrumental in the reverse meeting.
So much so that the United boss couldn’t resist approaching him after the game to plant the seeds for a summer move.
Ruben Amorim’s suggestive comments to Matheus Cunha
You can’t blame Amorim for dreaming about adding the Brazilian to his ranks. The form Cunha hit last season had the whole of the Premier League on notice.
And Cunha recently sat down with The Sun and recalled his first interaction with his new coach.
After suffering a second defeat of the season to Vitor Pereira, Amorim was quick to turn his attention to the opposition’s star player, catching him in the tunnel after the final whistle.
As Cunha reveals: “I remember what he said to me in the tunnel, he said to me, take care today, and what do you feel about this stadium.”
‘This stadium’ being Old Trafford, where Amorim wanted Cunha to be playing this season. And he got his wish.
Wolves need to spend on another Matheus Cunha
Cunha is a player you could quite comfortably stick with the ‘unique’ label in terms of his skillset and how he commands the pitch. But it’s the level of quality that we refer to when we say Wolves need another player like him.
The most Wolves spent on a signing over the summer was £26 million for Ladislav Krejci, a far cry from the £44 million shelled out for the Brazilian.
There was a long list of necessary additions for Wolves this summer, after so many key figures left. The recruitment strategy changing is something that Fosun have acknowledged. They are looking for less established names with upside, in order to keep costs down.
But sometimes, you just need individual brilliance. It’s as simple as that. There’s no one in the Wolves squad at present who can take a game by the scruff of the neck and single-handedly will this side towards victory.
If Wolves do manage to stay in the Premier League next season, they need a marquee attacker to come in and fill the Cunha void once and for all.