Why Wolves have made their move to sign Matheus Cunha
Wolves left it late to get the Julen Lopetegui reign off to a winning start, but goals from Raul Jimenez and Rayan Ait-Nouri in the latter stages meant they were able to book a place in the next round of the Carabao Cup at Gillingham's expense.
The victory, while against League Two opposition no less, will have been a welcome reprieve for the Premier League side, whose struggles in front of goal this season are well documented. Indeed, Wolves foot the Premier League ahead of the Boxing Day return following the World Cup, four points off safety, and have scored fewer goals (8) than any other team. For context, five players have hit the back of the net more times than the Midlands side in England's top tier this term.
They had sought to correct their goal woes with the addition of Sasa Kalajdzic, the Austrian joining from VfB Stuttgart in the summer, but his Premier League season lasted just 45 minutes after he was forced off at the break in Wolves' 1-0 win over Southampton back in September due to an ACL injury. With Pedro Neto absent due to an ankle injury sustained in October, Raul Jimenez struggling for form following a fractured skull and Goncalo Guedes so far failing to adapt to the Premier League following his signing from Valencia, Diego Costa was drafted in to ease the attacking burden. That has gone about as well as many predicted, with Costa having received more red cards (1) than scored goals (0).
With Lopetegui in charge, Wolves fans are hoping for a fresh start with a manager who can rectify their long-standing goal issues, and the first course of action has been to add another attacker to the ranks. Wolves are supposedly closing in on the signing of Matheus Cunha from Atletico Madrid, the Brazilian having been linked with a move to Manchester United earlier in the year.
Atletico have little need for Cunha given he has started just two league matches this season, with Alvaro Morata, Antoine Griezmann, Joao Felix and Angel Correa ahead of the 23-year-old in the pecking order at the Wanda Metropolitano. To his credit, across just 372 minutes of La Liga action, Cunha has registered two assists, but the lack of goals is a concern. Since joining from Hertha Berlin in 2021, the young forward has netted just six times in the league.
Granted, a lack of regular game time has denied him the chance to build up some consistency for Diego Simeone's side, but for a Wolves outfit that needs a player to put the ball in the back of the net... six goals across 1425 minutes of game time, netting at a rate of a goal every 237.5 minutes... doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Should Lopetegui maintain the lone striker approach with Wolves - they did line up in a 4-3-3 formation against Gillingham - then Cunha, in theory, is not the right man to lead the charge in the second half of the season. It's a role he has played before, yes, but given the profile of strikers Wolves have on their books in Kalajdzic, Jimenez and Costa, Cunha isn't the right man to lead the charge.
If Lopetegui is looking to implement a gameplan that relies on keeping the ball on the deck, then Cunha could be a good fit should Wolves seek to keep the ball on the deck. It's a small sample size, but of those have attempted more than five dribbles, only Copete (100%) has a better dribble success rate than Cunha (85.7%) in La Liga this season. However, when you consider the strikers Lopetegui used during his time with Sevilla, more physically imposing frontmen in the mould of Youssef En-Nesyri and former Wolves man Rafa Mir, then it stands to reason that the Spaniard will implement similar with the Premier League side
Considering Cunha has returned an aerial success rate of 21.4% during his time in Spain, it's fairly clear that the former Hertha man doesn't have the standing to lead the line for Wolves in the more physically demanding Premier League. That being said, Cunha is a hard worker off the ball, reinforcing a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of 'defensive contribution', and this in itself is a boost for Wolves. Only Bournemouth (48) and Nottingham Forest (53) have won possession in the attacking third fewer times than Wolves (59) in the Premier League this season, so they need to improve their work rate in the attacking third to boost their chances of pulling away from the danger zone.
He has won possession in the attacking third 10 times since the start of the 2021/22 La Liga season, at a rate of once every 142.2 minutes, a modest return considering he hasn't been completely trusted by Simeone. In addition, a tackle every 62 minutes is a respectable return, and looks all the more impressive when compared to the current Wolves forwards at Lopetegui's disposal. Daniel Podence, at a rate of a tackle every 73 minutes, comes closest to matching Cunha's return, while Neto (76), Guedes (99), Adama Traore (103.2) and Hwang Hee-Chan (107) follow suit. Jimenez and Costa are yet to make a tackle this season, so there is a clear need for an industrious, hard working forward.
Of course, the fans crave a frontman who can simply put the ball in the back of the net, and while Cunha has never been a consistent finisher in his career, his selflessness will go some way to easing Wolves' goal woes in the long run. Fortunately, the board are reportedly set to back Lopetegui in the market, so Cunha won't be the only new addition at Molineux in January. They need a goalscorer, that much is obvious. The Brazil international won't correct the profligacy, however he'll aid in pressing from the front, which in turn will create chances to score, and help ease the pressure on the Wolves defence.
