Marcelo Bielsa made contact with Matheus Cunha in January with Leeds United needing to pay a club-record transfer fee to bring the Hertha Berlin forward to the Premier League, as reported by Kicker.
Leeds’ bucket-perching boss may be one of football’s great visionaries – a man who saw Premier League potential in a squad full of second-tier also-rans – but you don’t need a detailed understanding of the Beautiful Game to understand why Bielsa likes Matheus Cunha.
Consistency remains elusive for the 21-year-old Brazilian but, in terms of raw, unfiltered talent, there can be no doubts about the former RB Leipzig wonderkid.
Check out Cunha’s 2019 Bundesliga Goal of the Season winner if you are not convinced.
Even Ronaldinho himself would have been proud of the way the Brazil U23 international made Bayer Leverkusen’s defence look like awe-struck school children.
Cunha only joined Hertha in a £15 million deal 15 months ago, but speculation over his future has not been in short supply this week.
Calciomercato reported on Wednesday that Leeds are battling Serie A giants Atalanta and Napoli for the signature of a forward labelled a ‘genius’ by coach Pal Dardai.
While Hertha Berlin announced less than 24 hours later that Cunha had extended his contract by a further year at the Olimpiastadion, that may be the beginning of the saga rather than the end.
According to Kicker, Hertha’s decision to extend his deal was driven by a desire to increase Cunha’s market value.
It is understood that a bid in the region of £30 million may be enough to seal the deal; a fee that would see Cunha replace Rodrigo Moreno as Leeds’ record signing.
The report adds that Bielsa and Leeds held talks with Cunha as far back as January, and the Premier League’s entertainers have clearly not been put off by the disappointing, injury-hit end to his first full season in Hertha Berlin colours.
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