Manchester United are believed to be on the brink of completing a deal for Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker Matheus Cunha, whom they have now reached a full verbal agreement for.
The Red Devils brought the curtain down on a disastrous season by overcoming Aston Villa 2-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday, although they were still condemned to their worst-ever Premier League campaign.
Ruben Amorim's men ended the 2024-25 season in a humiliating 15th place in the Premier League table, triggering an on-field apology from the Portuguese after his side also lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
With no European football for the 2025-26 campaign, Man United's spending power in the summer transfer window will be heavily restricted, and they are only thought to have a budget of around £100m without player sales.
However, the Red Devils are seemingly about to splash out over half of that figure, as Fabrizio Romano has given Cunha to Man United his famous 'here we go', claiming that a verbal agreement is now in place.
Man United 'strike verbal agreement' for Wolves' Cunha
© Imago
Thanks to a £62.5m release clause in his Molineux contract, Wolves were powerless to prevent the Brazil international from negotiating with other clubs if a rival team signalled their intent to trigger the option.
Man United will supposedly fork out the £62.5m figure in instalments, and Cunha has said yes to a five-year contract at the Theatre of Dreams until 2030, with an option until the summer of 2031.
The former Atletico Madrid man will supposedly undergo the final steps this week, including his official contract signing, before he is unveiled as Man United's first signing of the summer window.
Cunha ended the 2024-25 season with a praiseworthy 17 goals and six assists from 36 matches in all competitions, registering all but two of those contributions in the Premier League.
The 25-year-old departs Wolves with a record of 33 goals and 15 assists from 92 matches since first joining on loan in January 2023, which preceded a £42m permanent move that same summer.
Cunha 'expected' to take iconic Man United shirt number
© Imago
Cunha initially sported the number 12 shirt for Vitor Pereira's side, but he became the club's new number 10 for the 2024-25 season, and Ben Jacobs adds that he is expected to inherit the same shirt at Man United.
Marcus Rashford is the current owner of that jersey at Old Trafford, but the England international is expected to complete a permanent move elsewhere, either to Aston Villa, Barcelona or another club.
Cunha will be following in the footsteps of a number of Man United greats who have also donned the '10' at the Theatre of Dreams, including Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Denis Law, George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton.
If all goes to plan, Cunha will become Amorim's third permanent signing as Man United boss, following the January arrivals of Patrick Dorgu from Lecce and Ayden Heaven from Arsenal.
After Sunday's win over Villa, Man United jetted off for a post-season tour of Asia, where they will face SEAN All-Stars on Wednesday and Hong Kong on Friday.
Ben Knapton
