In the summer of 2025, Manchester United decided to activate the release clause in Matheus Cunha's contract at Wolverhampton Wanderers to bring the Brazilian forward to Old Trafford.

Cunha was initially signed to play as the left-sided no. 10 in Ruben Amorim's 3-4-2-1 system, but following the arrival of Michael Carrick, who uses a 4-2-3-1, Cunha has played the majority of his minutes on the left wing, although he has occasionally been used as a centre-forward in Benjamin Sesko's absence.

Cunha scored 10 goals for United in the Premier League last season, which was slightly underwhelming considering he scored 15 goals in the season prior, playing in a Wolves team that finished 16th.

Cunha has only scored one goal in his nine Premier League appearances this season, but he has found the back of the net three times in the Champions League.

He scored in United's 4-0 win against Sabah FK and scored a brace on Tuesday night against AS Roma to complete a sensational comeback at Old Trafford.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said that he believes Cunha's performance could help give him the boost he needs to reach his best form at Old Trafford, having been inconsistent during his time at the club so far.

“I think for Cunha this could be liftoff where he starts to catch fire,” Ferdinand said.

“I think he’s a hugely talented footballer and he showed glimpses, especially last season.

“Could this be the game that unlocks him? Because I haven’t seen it enough yet with him. You see moments, and you go, ‘Oh, look at that, that’s why we paid the big money for him’, but not enough.

“And I thought against Roma, I thought he was intense off the ball… sometimes to generate a good performance, it isn’t necessarily always going to be a bit of skill, or a goal, or a bit of that Brazilian samba.

“Sometimes it’s a bit of hard work and graft that the fans acknowledge and I thought Cunha yesterday was doing that.

“He was chasing, he was harrying, he ended up getting sent off for doing just that, which was a little bit immature, but the intention that he had all through the game, I thought, set him up to put him in a position to be able to have that chance and finish. And it was good to see.

“He needs to be watching back that performance and go, where were the fans feeding off me there? Where was I getting them going? Where was I getting the team and being the pressure point for the team? It was without the ball a lot of the time. And keep bringing that every game.

“But Cunha has talent, and he could be a big, big, big difference for this team if he’s playing consistently well and he’s doing his thing on the pitch.”

As Ferdinand said, Cunha has shown glimpses of real quality since joining Manchester United, but the former Wolves forward has struggled for consistency during his time at Old Trafford.

Excluding the game against Roma, he has been quite poor this season, although the same can be said for nearly every United player. 

The main issue with Cunha is his decision-making. He often shoots when he should pass, and even before scoring against Roma, he was not having his best games. He lost the ball frequently, and it felt like all his actions were a half second too slow.

Cunha is in his prime, and with Sesko out until January, United will be heavily reliant on him and Bryan Mbeumo for goals over the coming months. Cunha needs to ensure that his performance against Roma is not just a one-off and that he continues to make an impact consistently throughout the remainder of the season.

While he can be very frustrating at times, Cunha has shown that he is capable of being decisive in tight games. Even if the final action is not always the best, he constantly looks to make things happen, and his work rate is one aspect of his game that cannot be faulted.