After a poor 2024/25 campaign, Manchester United – and Ruben Amorim, in particular – were keen on commencing their summer business early and, after the club confirmed the arrival of the Brazilian forward, the comments of former interim boss Ralf Rangnick have re-emerged.
Cunha, who has played for Atletico Madrid and Hertha Berlin in his 271-outing career, has become the Old Trafford club’s first signing in what could prove to be crucial for how next season pans out, especially without having to play mid-week European football.
Coming off two brilliant back-to-back campaigns for Wolverhampton Wanderers, all fingers point towards the recruitment of the forward – widely regarded as one of the best Premier League footballers at present – being a brilliant piece of business.
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Rangnick’s Prior Assessment of Man Utd’s Summer Addition, Cunha
The German boss has been critical of Old Trafford affairs in the past
Cunha was once highly touted by some of Europe’s elite during his spell on Atletico Madrid’s books between 2021 and 2023 – but after a loan spell for Wolves in the latter half of the 2022/23 campaign, their 32,050-seater, Molineux, became his home in that summer.
Stretching back to his days playing for German club RB Leipzig, who he signed from FC Sion of Switzerland in the summer of 2018, Rangnick waxed lyrical about the 1999-born goal-getter. At that time, Rangnick was the sporting director of Leipzig.
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Reeling off what he admired about the Brazilian, Rangnick – who is now in charge of the Austrian national team – labelled him a ‘highly interesting striker’ who showed terrific quality in the final third. The 66-year-old tactician said:
“Matheus Cunha is a highly interesting striker who, with his age, speed, and offensive drive, fits very well into our philosophy. Especially in finishing, he shows great qualities.”
That’s high praise coming from Rangnick, whose comments regarding Old Trafford affairs are well-documented. “You don’t even need glasses to see and analyse where the problems are,” he said during his 34-game stint in the dugout.
“Now, it’s about how do we solve them? It’s not enough to do some minor amendments – cosmetic things. In medicine, you would say that this is an operation of the open heart.”
Where Cunha will fit into Libson-born Amorim’s system remains to be seen – but with the respective futures of Jadon Sancho, Antony and Marcus Rashford still hanging in the balance, securing the services of a sought-after Cunha is impressive.
In 2025/24 alone, the 13-cap Brazil international was instrumental in a lot of Wolves’ goals. In all competitions, he plundered 17 goals and six assists in 36 games. Amorim and his entourage will certainly benefit from his genuine firepower.