Gary Neville says Manchester United have been desperate for a signing in the mould of Matheus Cunha since letting Marcus Rashford go.
United want to sign Wolves forward Cunha to play as a No. 10 with Ruben Amorim’s side struggling for goals, with just 38 scored in 33 Premier League games, after allowing forward options Rashford, Antony and Jadon Sancho to leave on loan this season.
Amorim has said United will need to sell to buy this summer, and those three are prime candidates to raise the required funds for the head coach to build a squad capable of playing his 3-4-2-1 formation.
“They’re desperate in that position,” said Sky Sports pundit Neville. “You think of what Manchester United are playing now, they’ve let Jadon Sancho go, they’ve let (Marcus) Rashford go, they’ve let Antony go, so three players who are natural players who travel with the ball.
“They’re playing with (Alejandro) Garnacho at the moment but then they’re lopsided. On the other side, sometimes it’s (Joshua) Zirkzee when he was fit, or they’ve got Bruno Fernandes stepping up in moments.
“Mason Mount’s come in, but they need someone who can beat players, they need someone who’s equally as good running through the middle with the ball and travelling with the ball, and go out wide and support the wing-back.
“So he’s a type of player that you could see Manchester United being interested in, that would suit this system that Ruben Amorim wants to play.
“They’ve lost three players who play in that type of position so they need to fulfil that, they’ll need to fill those roles definitely or else they’re going to struggle.
“They need to score goals. Ruben Amorim said at the weekend we’re just struggling to score goals, so you need players who can take risks, good in the final third, and Cunha’s got a lot of ability.”
‘Rashford almost impossible to play against’
Cunha is well-suited to the system having played it under Vitor Pereira at Wolves and has proven himself in the Premier League over the last two years as a goalscorer and creator, but his release clause stands at £62.5m.
Rashford’s form since joining Aston Villa mid-season, scoring four goals and laying on six assists in 17 games, has raised questions about Amorim’s decision to let him go, especially as he would play a similar role to Cunha.
The Villa loanee particularly impressed Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane in Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Man City, as he netted a first-half penalty and ran Ruben Dias ragged when coming close to scoring after just 17 seconds.
“He was a threat [against City]. When there is grass behind Marcus, he’s as good as any player,” said Keane in the Sky Sports studio.
“There’s still areas he can improve on, but when he is making runs in behind and getting that service, you ask the defenders, Marcus is a nightmare to play against.
“He’s got that hunger and desire to run into [the space]. When I see him making [those runs], and once he’s got grass in front of him, he’s almost impossible to stop.”
‘No concerns about Cunha temperament’
Villa are yet to decide on if they will sign Rashford permanently, but Sky Sports News senior reporter Melissa Reddy writes that whatever happens, it is obvious the forward’s future lies away from United.
That is why plans are being made to sign Cunha, who has given United positive indications he would like to join.
Cunha’s character has come into question this season after missing six games through suspension for his misbehaviour on the pitch, including an altercation with a member of Ipswich Town’s security and his clash with Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez after being sent off.
Asked if he had any such concerns, Neville said: “No. To be honest, I quite like [it]. If I were playing against him, I wouldn’t like a player with a bit of spirit and a bit of fight.
“I used to play with some unbelievable players, some of the very best in the world at their time, and they had the right spike to them – you think about Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Eric Cantona and Mark Hughes and how tough and sometimes spirited they were in games.
“Sometimes they did the unpredictable, sometimes they lost their discipline, but they were amazing players. At the time that they get sent off, they know they’ve let the team down, but what they give you in return is something special and I love a player with character.”
Why maverick Cunha is a good fit for Utd – but a risk too
Following reports linking Wolves’ Matheus Cunha to Manchester United, Adam Bate analyses what the Brazilian forward could bring to Old Trafford, reflecting on conversations with the man himself as well as Cunha’s current team-mates at Molineux…
