Wolves' player of the season: This was the year of Matheus Cunha – for good and bad

New York Times

28-05-2025

In seven successive seasons back in the Premier League, Wolverhampton Wanderers have had successful, significant, star players.
But never has a single campaign been linked so intrinsically to one player as the one just gone.
Whether it was wonderful goals, inspired assists, an 'olympico', tantrums, sulks, a meltdown, a red card or a bizarre glasses incident, 2024-25 at Wolves was the year of Matheus Cunha.
Advertisement
And while the Brazil international's dark moments will damage his standing among supporters if, as expected, he leaves Molineux for Manchester United this summer, the game-changing, point-winning contributions mean he is the only choice when it comes to choosing Wolves' star player.
The 26-year-old is frustrating, infuriating and at times a liability, but he does things that few other players to have pulled on a gold shirt in the Fosun era can do.
While Cunha might not sit alongside Nuno Espirito Santo-era greats such as Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Conor Coady and Raul Jimenez in the affections of Wolves fans, he sits comfortably alongside them all when it comes to impacting games.
Fifteen goals and six assists this season to add to 12 and seven respectively in Gary O'Neil's only full campaign at the helm has proven, if proof were needed, that Cunha is no flash in the pan when it comes to talent.
If fans understandably questioned the club's decision to spend £44million ($58.5m) on Cunha following an underwhelming half a season under Julen Lopetegui, he has allayed all such concerns over the subsequent two seasons, rising to the challenge presented by the departure of stars including Neves and Pedro Neto to become the undisputed star of the squad.
This season, however, Cunha has often been a difficult player to like.
From the final moments of O'Neil's tenure, when defeat at home by Ipswich Town prompted a post-match meltdown that included Cunha elbowing a member of Ipswich's staff then ripping his glasses from his face, the highly emotional forward never seemed far from implosion.
One of new head coach Vitor Pereira's first acts at Molineux was to field questions on the incident that pre-dated his reign and he responded with what seemed like a safe answer, insisting Cunha was a solid member of the squad who had been guilty of an uncharacteristic loss of control.
It appeared to be a perfectly valid opinion, given Cunha had hitherto shown few indications of possessing a short fuse.
Advertisement
Yet the Brazilian proceeded to show how Pereira's faith was misplaced, first with a stroppy performance at Chelsea that prompted his head coach to publicly criticise his body language and then with his second violent meltdown of the season, against Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez in the FA Cup.
Just a few weeks earlier Wolves had given Cunha a new contract that, thanks to a release clause for a fee of £62.5m, had few benefits to the club other than keeping their best player focused for the remainder of the season before an expected summer departure.
Losing him for four key games as a result of his suspension made that benefit even more marginal, and by the time he returned a run of victories meant Wolves had effectively finished the job of securing safety without him.
Yet just as the Bournemouth game highlighted the frailties of Cunha's temperament, it also shone a spotlight on the scale of his talent, with the rocket of an equaliser that took the game into extra time laced with a level of quality that few other players in the league, let alone Wolves' squad, could match.
And, while Pereira walked into a team staring at likely relegation, the situation would have been graver had it not been for some vital Cunha interventions — two goals in a 4-1 win at Fulham, one to seal a home victory over Southampton and a morale-boosting late equaliser at Brighton & Hove Albion to name but three.
Pereira's team shape suited Cunha less than an O'Neil game plan that was often built around him, but the Brazilian's form continued in the early months of the new boss's reign with his 'olympico' strike to seal a Boxing Day win over Manchester United in Pereira's first home game another standout moment.
Chances are, Cunha's Wolves career is now over with the player having been granted permission to undergo a medical at Manchester United after they met the terms of his contract at Molineux.
And no one — fans, Pereira or Molineux executives — will lament his departure in the same way they did with Neves or Neto. Cunha now has too much baggage and a fresh start is regarded as the best option for all parties.
But the talent is undeniable and his impact on what is likely to be his final season at Wolves has been immense. For one final time, there is cause to raise a glass to a character who, for better and worse, is the club's player of the season.