Analysis: Why 'maverick' Cunha is just the player Man Utd need

Football writer Alex Keble looks at the qualities new signing Matheus Cunha will bring to Manchester United.

That didn’t take long.

Just seven days after Ruben Amorim took to the Old Trafford pitch to assure supporters that “the good days are coming,” Man Utd have backed up their head coach's words by spending big on a proven Premier League playmaker.

And Cunha is pure Man Utd.

It’s in the swagger and the flair - the Brazilian No 10's Eric Cantona-like quality – but also in his urgency and directness, which fits the surging attacking waves we have historically associated with Man Utd’s DNA.

Note "historically." United scored 44 Premier League goals in 2024/25, fewer than every other club bar Everton and the bottom three.

The headline benefit of Cunha, then, is his attacking output: across his only two full campaigns in the Premier League, Cunha ranks joint ninth overall for goal involvements.

Most goal involvements PL 24/25

United fans may not have long to wait to see Cunha in action.

He could be part of the squad travelling to the USA for the 2025 Summer Series, running from 26 July to 3 August, beginning with a match against West Ham United at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Here’s why he might just be the first signing to really get the Amorim era under way.

Cunha a perfect fit on left of Amorim’s 3-4-2-1

Amorim’s refusal to compromise on his 3-4-2-1 formation has had issues with a Man Utd squad that struggles to fit the brief.

That makes signing the 26-year-old a statement of support for Amorim, because Cunha has spent the majority of his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers playing as the left inside forward in a 3-2-4-1, receiving the ball in exactly the kind of spaces Amorim wants to his No 10s to occupy.

But what’s been lost in the early days of Amorim, when Man Utd looked sluggish and world-weary, is the manager’s desire to play with verticality: straight passes through the lines, built via the box-shape midfield of two No 6s supplying the two inside forwards.

Receiving forward passes that break open an opposition midfield is something Cunha has done throughout his Wolves career.

He ranks 12th among Premier League forwards for open-play passes received (946) and, as the below graphic indicates, Cunha (LAM) is the fulcrum of the Wolves attack.

By signing Cunha, Man Utd’s midfielders – until now often a little lost and overwhelmed as a pair - can more consistently find the forward pass to a player comfortable on the half-turn.

Ball-carrying skills

Ball-carrying is another Amorim staple we are yet to see at Man Utd.

Cast your mind back to Sporting Lisbon’s 4-1 victory against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League and recall how Amorim’s team consistently hit City in transition or in artificial transition, either counter-attacking behind the high line or giving the illusion of doing so by putting together one-touch, dribble-heavy moves.

He will want to bring these over to United – and Cunha is one of the best ball-carriers in the Premier League.

In 2024/25, he ranked fourth for carries into the final third (95) and ninth for completed take-ons (125), although where he really excels is turning these dribbles into goalmouth action.

Cunha attempted 34 shots following a ball carry, the sixth-highest figure in the division, and created 23 shots from a ball carry, again the sixth-most.

His ball carries also led to four goals and four assists, the fifth-most goal involvements following a carry in the Premier League.

Where Cunha ranks for ball carries 24/25

Weaving through the lines is essential to Amorim’s football and the only thing stopping it from becoming stale and stodgy, hence why Amad has been such a vital player as one of the two inside forwards.

Cunha adds oomph, but he might also allow Amad to revert to right wing-back, where he excelled before Amorim was forced to move him forward for lack of line-breaking dribblers in the final third.

Cunha’s positioning, familiarity with the 3-4-2-1, and ball-carrying make him a player who - by demanding the ball and powering through the thirds - can unlock Amorim’s system, helping mimic the fluidity and transitional nature of his Sporting team.

Defensive work fits Amorim’s desire for a hard press

Off the ball, Cunha is used to working hard in the press, again aligning with Amorim’s principle ideas.

You might not think it from watching the early play of his Man Utd, but Amorim demands a choreographed high press to disrupt the opposition, retain control, and produce high turnovers that create rapid breaks into the penalty area.

Wolves ranked 11 for possessions won in the final third (142) and 10th for Passes Per Defensive Action (PPDA) (12.3) in 2024/25, indicating they are not as hard-pressing as Amorim wants Man Utd to be.

This only makes Cunha’s personal stats more impressive.

Among Premier League forwards he ranks highly in a number of categories relating to pressing, most notably interceptions, where he came third, and possessions won, were he sat sixth.

How Cunha ranks defensively among PL forwards 24/25

He will work hard, then, to press intelligently within Amorim’s system. On and off the ball, Cunha is the right tactical fit for Man Utd.

Goal threat can take burden off Fernandes

That’s the tactical side covered, but there’s a simpler analysis worth mentioning. Cunha is a highly productive forward. United don’t have many of those.

A decent proportion of Cunha’s goals have been from outside the box, showing the value he adds, while across the last two seasons Cunha has scored 27 goals from 18.12 Expected Goals (xG), suggesting he is an excellent finisher.

A look at his assists from 2023/24 and 2024/25 also reveals the high quality of them, with most coming from passes outside the box.

This should help take the burden off Bruno Fernandes.

Cunha’s goals and assists in 2024/25 represented 38.9 per cent of Wolves’ total, which is the ninth-highest figure in the division.

Fernandes’ 18 goal involvements accounted for 40.9 per cent of Man Utd’s, the sixth-highest percentage in the Premier League.

However, a note of caution: Cunha’s "Expected Assists" (xA) across the two seasons amount to 8.23, and his "Expected Goals on Target" (xGOT) – measuring where shots hit the goalmouth – is 18.85.

Cunha's Expected Goals/Assists 23/24 and 24/25

So, his 27 goals is well above expected, possibly indicating Cunha was the recipient of poor goalkeeping, while his 13 assists from 8.23 "Expected" means he was the beneficiary of half-chances being converted.

In other words, those figures for Wolves might not be sustainable, although at United Cunha will see more of the ball in the final third - and should be surrounded by higher-quality team-mates.

How Man Utd and Wolves compare 24/25

Maverick persona fits Man Utd's history

Cunha as a Man Utd player just makes sense.

He has the same distinctive quality shared by so many of the best United players down the years, from George Best to Cristiano Ronaldo to Fernandes.

His improvisational talent is a big plus and should help Amorim’s desire to free up a claustrophobic Man Utd attack.

But only up to a point.

“He’s a player that plays on his instinct, he doesn’t like to spend hours looking through opposition and tactical bits,” former Wolves assistant head coach Ian Burchnall told The Guardian this month.

“He likes to feel the game and more play on instincts than anything, which obviously when a lot of coaches are working on deep tactical work, he doesn’t always slot into that because those sorts of free spirits are not seen as much.”

In Wolves’ 2-0 victory over Amorim’s Man Utd on Boxing Day, Cunha scored one goal and assisted the other. His goal was scored directly from a corner; a deliberate, audacious attempt – and not his first of the match.

It was the kind of goal that makes fans gasp; that made Wolves fall in love with their maverick No 10, just as Man Utd fans have with numerous No 10s down the years.

But Amorim needs to gain tactical command over the dressing room. Can he harness Cunha’s free-spirited energy, or will Cunha’s style disrupt attempts to fine-tune the system?

The answer to that question will define Cunha’s time at the club – and quite possibly Amorim’s, too.

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