Manchester United’s miserable form continues.
On Boxing Day, the Red Devils were beaten 2-0 by Wolves, meaning they are now down in 14th place, having lost eight of 18 Premier League fixtures thus far, spending Christmas Day in the bottom half for the first time in 35 years.
Rúben Amorim has also become the fastest Man United manager in history to taste four league defeats, doing so in just seven matches, an unwanted record for sure.
Defeat to Newcastle United on Monday night would see them suffer three successive Premier League losses for the first time since Boxing Day 2016, while, given that their first two matches of 2025 are Liverpool (A) on Sunday and then Arsenal (A) a week later, this miserable form is only likely to continue.
So, in a desperate attempt to salvage this season, could Man United dip into the January transfer market, in an attempt to repeat their Bruno Fernandes success?
Bruno Fernandes: Man United's best post-Sir Alex Ferguson signing
It’s common knowledge that doing deals in the January transfer window is difficult.
Pep Guardiola himself this week described the winter window as “not easy”, but Manchester United have proved in recent times that it is possible to snap-up game-changing talent.
Immediately after arriving from Sporting CP in January 2020, for a fee of £46.5m plus up to £21.2m in add-ons, Fernandes made abundantly clear straight-away that he would be an excellent edition.
In his first half-season, which featured a three-month interruption due to Covid-19, the Portuguese midfielder scored eight goals in 14 Premier League appearances, as well as bagging three in five Europa League outings.
Overall, in 260 matches for Man United to date, Fernandes has scored 85 goals and provided 76 assists, winning both the FA Cup and EFL Cup under Erik ten Hag, appointed club captain in July 2023.
James Westwood of Goal labels him as Man United’s best player of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, with Shamoon Hafez of BBC Sport adding Fernandes has “single-handedly changed the fortunes of the club”, claiming he is the best January signing in Premier League history.
So, if the Red Devils are going to attempt to strengthen this January, they’ll hope for a similar impact from their latest target.
Man Utd's January transfer news
As per reports in Spain, Manchester United, as well as Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, are interested in signing Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Matheus Cunha, claiming both are prepared to pay €80m (around £66.3m) for his services.
As recently as Boxing Day, Cunha was a key figure in condemning Man United to their freshest defeat, scoring an Olimpico directly from a corner, before teeing up Hwang Hee-chan for Wolves’ second in the 2-0 win at Molineux.
One would assume that there’s no way Wolves will sell their best player in January, considering they sit just two points and one place above the relegation zone.
However, as ownership group Fosun International have scaled back their investment in Wolves in recent seasons, the club’s best assets have been sold; Pedro Neto, Max Kilman, Rúben Neves, Nathan Collins and Matheus Nunes have departed for a combined £170m during the last three transfer windows.
Cunha, currently earning approximately £60k-per-week, would expect a massive pay rise, should he make the move, while the Brazilian has been outstanding this season, teammate Joao Gomes describing him as a “monster” earlier in the campaign.
But how does Cunha compare to the Premier League’s best centre-forwards?
Statistic
Matheus Cunha
Erling Braut Håland
Alexander Isak
Chris Wood
Nicolas Jackson
Jhon Durán
Appearances
18
18
16
18
17
18
Minutes
1,515
1,619
1,288
1,411
1,328
602
Goals
10
13
11
10
9
7
Goals per 90
0.59
0.72
0.77
0.64
0.61
1.05
Assists
4
1
4
0
3
0
Assists per 90
0.24
0.06
0.28
0
0.2
0
Goals- xG
+6
-0.4
+1.5
+3.1
-0.1
+2.2
Shot-creating actions
67
39
53
17
44
17
Goal-creating actions
8
5
6
0
7
1
Of the six highest-scoring strikers in the Premier League so far this season, Cunha compares favourably to all of them.
Most impressively, the Brazilian’s ten goals have come from an xG of only four, making him the most clinical player across the entire division.
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He’s also racked up the most shot-creating and goal-creating actions of all six players highlighted, doing so for a struggling side battling against relegation, scoring almost a third of Wolves’ goals thus far, making his form all the more noteworthy.
Given that Wolves paid £44m to sign Cunha from Atlético Madrid two years ago, he won’t come cheap, but he would certainly be an excellent addition, should Man United secure his services next month.
Having reaped the rewards of landing Fernandes in the winter window back in 2020, the Red Devils – who have seen January recruits such as Odion Ighalo and Wout Weghorst come and go in recent years – could repeat that trick with their latest marquee move.
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