Matheus Cunha #9

Profile

Cunha was used regularly by Tite during the 2022 World Cup cycle, but, left on the fringes of the Atlético Madrid first team, missed the cut for Qatar. “I felt bad, really bad,” he told The Guardian last year. “I suffered a lot. I felt bad not to have played the World Cup and I felt even worse because I didn’t go to the World Cup because I wasn’t playing for my club.” Moving to Wolves turned things round for him. “Sometimes all we want in life is affection. People think we have everything, but we’re human beings, too. We need a bit of understanding - we have our difficulties. Wolves gave me that joy back.” He played his way back into international contention, earning last year’s £62.5m move to Manchester United. Carlo Ancelotti is a big fan of his style and versatility, so he could become Brazil’s fifth different No9 in the last five World Cups – a position without a regular ‘owner’ since Ronaldo stopped playing.

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