‘He’s never been prolific’: Pundit baffled as Wolves close in on £45m deal

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Former Premier League midfielder Danny Murphy is questioning the ‘logic’ of Wolves signing Matheus Cunha from La Liga giants Atletico Madrid, telling talkSPORT (21 December, 11.40am) that the Brazil international is not the natural ‘goalscorer’ Julen Lopetegui needs.

Now, Cunha is not short of talent.

The former RB Leipzig and Hertha Berlin forward is a fabulous technician. He’s strong and aggressive but nimble and mobile too; an ‘extraordinary’ footballer once likened to the legendary Samuel Eto’o.

But while Cunha is a scorer of great goals, he cannot really be labelled a great goalscorer. He has not hit double figures since the 2017/18 season at FC Sion in Switzerland, and has scored just seven times in 54 games since moving to Madrid in the summer of 2021.

Wolves are signing Matheus Cunha from La Liga giants Atletico Madrid

“I’ve seen a bit of him. He’s not really a goalscorer,” says Murphy, formerly of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and England.

“He’s not blessed with that natural instinct. He likes to come and link, he’s got good feet, can go past people. But when you look at his goals-to-games ratio, he’s never been prolific.

“He’s talented, he’s strong, and can glide past people. But he’s not really a poacher. Wolves need goals and his goals-to-games ratio isn’t great. I’m just looking at the logic of the signing! They’ve got a lot of decent footballers who don’t score many goals, and they’ve just got another.”

Fabrizio Romano, on Tuesday evening, finally uttered those three magical words; ‘here we go’. Wolverhampton Wanderers, he says, will land he reported Arsenal, Leeds United and Everton target on loan with an option-to-buy for around £45 million.

Lopetegui, who knows Cunha from his time at Sevilla, also admitted prior to the 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Gillingham that the 23-year-old is ‘close’ to arriving at Molineux.

But is Cunha really the answer to Wolves’ biggest problem? The Black Country outfit have scored a dismal eight goals in 15 Premier League games this season, and went into the World Cup break nailed to the bottom of the table.