It didn’t take Rafael Van der Vaart long to realise that Joao Felix and Atletico Madrid were not exactly a match made in footballing heaven. Just seven months after the 19-year-old forward swapped Benfica for the La Liga giants, becoming the fifth-most expensive player in the sport’s history along the way, Van der Vaart made a point that, nearly three years later, feels even more prescient now than it did at the time.
Joao Felix is a great footballer but he’s at the wrong club, with the wrong coach,” the former Real Madrid, Tottenham and Ajax playmaker told Ziggo Sport in February 2020.
“He needs another style of play to stand out.”
Felix’s story, however, is hardly a unique one. At least, as far as Atletico Madrid are concerned. Take Thomas Lemar for instance; one of Europe’s hottest prospects when he arrived from Monaco for over £50 million in 2018. Take Luciano Vietto and Gelson Martins. Recent history is littered with talented young players who arrived in the Spanish capital and found life in Diego Simeone’s School of Hard Knocks almost impossible to cope with.
And while Matheus Cunha had had his moments under the enigmatic Argentine, the eight-time Brazil international is another who looks destined to depart having found Simeone too tough a nut to crack. Cunha, a £22 million signing from Hertha Berlin in 2021, has started just 10 La Liga games in 18 months.
Wolves could sign former Leeds United target Matheus Cunha from Atletico Madrid
Per Fabrizio Romano, Cunha is now in talks with Wolverhampton Wanderers ahead of the January transfer window. With opportunities sparse, and with Cunha looking about as well-suited to Simeone’s knife-between-the-teeth approach as Daniel Day Lewis is to a Kevin James comedy, a parting of the ways appears to be the best thing for all parties.
Then again, it’s not as if Cunha couldn’t have seen this coming. Felix own ‘Madridian’ malaise should have been enough of a warning; another free-spirit footballer ground down by Simeone’s defensively-minded demands.
The former RB Leipzig youngster turned down Leeds United in favour of Atletico in the summer of 2021. Marcelo Bielsa was certainly no soft touch. As uncompromising as they come regarding his high-pressing, sweat-shedding methods. But the Elland Road legend was always willing to find a place in his Leeds team for more cerebral, mercurial talents. Raphinha and Pablo Hernandez, to name but too.
You cannot really say the same of a coach who, even when Atletico are struggling to break down well-drilled opponents, tends to view Felix (his most naturally talented, creative forward) as something of a final roll of the proverbial dice.
Per UOL, Bielsa was the driving force behind Leeds’ pursuit of the ‘extraordinary’ Cunha last year.
‘Really sad to see Matheus Cunha like this’
As fan site Brasil Football point out on Twitter, Cunha would probably have been a part of Brazil’s 2022 World Cup squad had he joined ‘the correct club’. Instead, he’s having to make do with a watching brief; his omission from the final-26 an inevitable by-product of his benchwarming days in La Liga.
“Really sad to see Matheus Cunha like this,” Brasil Football wrote. “I’m sure if he picked the correct European club to go to, he would be on that list too.
“Atletico and Simeone’s style of football definitely does not suit him, as it doesn’t suit Joao Felix’s either. This is why its important to pick the right club. Especially during a crucial year such as a World Cup year.”
Whether that ‘correct club’ turns out to be Wolves, with talks progressing, remains to be seen. Or, indeed, whether he’d have been better off at Leeds than Atletico.
But with former West Yorkshire wizard Raphinha firmly established in Brazil’s star-studded front four over in Qatar, Cunha could be forgiven for wondering how differently things would have turned out if he’d followed in his compatriot’s footsteps when Leeds came calling.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
