‘For me, no-one else is like Man United' – Matheus Cunha determined to help change fortunes of his ‘dream team'
The 20-time English champions are in the midst of a rebuild under Ruben Amorim, having limped home 15th in the Premier League and lost the Europa League final to fellow strugglers Tottenham.
The defeat in Bilbao cost them Champions League qualification, meaning United will spend a first season without European football since 2014-15.
But the Red Devils' issues did not deter Brazil international Cunha, who completed his eagerly-anticipated £62.5million switch from Wolves on Thursday.
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'It is the most common phrase that you can say at this moment, but this is the dream come true,' he told MUTV.
'Maybe outside, I think maybe my decision, they don't understand. But when you have always dreamed to play here, it's easier to pick this decision.
'For me, no-one else is like United. Of course, I know it's been a hard season for everyone. I think my decision shows what this club is for me and what I believe this club can be.
'And, of course, I'll do everything that I can to manage this inside of me, to play for my dream team and put my dream team to win.'
Cunha loved United growing up and spoke of his admiration for Wayne Rooney, along with many other members of the triumphant 2008 Champions League side.
The Red Devils are a long way from even qualifying for that competition right now, yet the forward has lofty ambitions.
'I don't think we have one player who comes here and then doesn't think about the glory days in Man United,' Cunha said.
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'To remember all the times that they win the Premier League, how many titles it was, and of course to qualify for the Champions League. This is what I think about United, you know to put this club on top.
'Then what I can do is everything to show them I'm here to help the team, to conquer these kind of things.'
Cunha is the first of Amorim's summer recruits and the Brazilian, who has signed a deal until 2030 with the option of another year, is excited to work under the United head coach.
'I really believe in him, everything that he did in Portugal,' he said. 'I hope he can conquer the world like he did in Portugal.
'But of course I think he needs the players that can do everything like I'm open to do and help the team, help him. All the conversation that we have had made my decision easier.'
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The above formation usually keeps three centre-backs and two midfielders behind the ball in the event Ireland lose it, and thus gums up the middle of the pitch whenever Ireland are turned over. They have also become more clever and effective at committing those small, niggly, non-bookable fouls to stop opposition counters whenever it's threatened. The yet-to-dos Build a clear starting XI Hallgrimsson spoke early in the job of wanting to create an obvious hierarchy within the squad, with a settled starting XI building the kind of cohesion that is invaluable at international level. That hasn't happened. It's partly because of injury, partly because of the manager's own calls, and partly because some of those who have been given opportunities haven't done enough to make themselves undroppable. From this remove, only Caoimhín Kelleher, Nathan Collins, Robbie Brady, and Josh Cullen are an absolute lock to start against Hungary. 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Ireland have conceded 15 goals across Hallgrimsson's first 10 games, two more than the equivalent figure across Stephen Kenny's final 10 matches in charge. (Granted, a third of the Hallgrimsson figure came with 10 men in that berserk second half at Wembley, though Kenny's run includes home-and-away games against France and Netherlands.) Hallgrimsson has identified a trend of conceding from crosses, which he says comes from Ireland becoming too passive. This is a slightly worrying trend, that Ireland can struggle when they sink deep and defend their penalty area. With tests against Portugal and Hungary awaiting, that is something they must improve. Vastly improve the attack Though Ireland appear to be better balanced, they haven't vastly improved their attacking output, given they have scored eight goals across their 10 games under Hallgrimsson. Though it's a small sample size with which to make our contrast, Ireland averaged 1.175 goals per game across Stephen Kenny's 40 games. Take the outliers of a couple of strolls against Gibraltar out of the equation, and Ireland averaged 10.6 shots per game in Kenny's final year in charge, whereas they are at 9.1 per game under Hallgrimsson. Given Ireland are third seeds, they'll spend more of the forthcoming qualification group on the backfoot, but they must add more in attack to pick up the points they need, especially in the ties with bottom-ranked Armenia.
