Manchester United’s Chief Executive Officer Omar Berrada has compared new signing, Matheus Cunha, to a club legend.
Man United moved quickly to complete the signing of Cunha, indicating the club’s ambition to land their transfer targets early.
The Brazil international had a superb season with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League last term, providing 21 goal involvements in 33 games.
The 26-year-old is expected to play as one of the two number 10s in manager Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation. He shone in a similar attacking role under Vitor Pereira at Wolves.
Berrada believes Cunha can have a significant impact at the club, like Eric Cantona, who inspired United to the league title in 1993—the first in 26 years.
He told United We Stand via The Athletic: “He’s a player that I think fans are going to love. We can talk about his technical abilities and he can play in three different positions.
“He’s a playmaking attacking midfielder; he can score goals, he can make assists. I think he’s going to lift people off their seats. He’s got a bit of a swagger about him that people are going to really like. Dare I say, (Eric) Cantona-esque.”
Besides backing Cunha to succeed at United, Berrada expressed his confidence in Amorim.
He has compared the Portuguese tactician’s slow start to that of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Amorim has been criticised for sticking to his 3-4-2-1 formation despite poor results, but Berrada believes the United boss is right not to change his philosophy.
“Pep (Guardiola) stuck to his principles and given what he’d won, he had an enormous amount of credit in the bank. He was allowed that first year to be below-par by his standards.
“The club backed him that summer, the team started winning and created this winning cycle that lasted until this season.”
Berrada is also optimistic about the Mancunian giants winning the league title in 2028 when the club celebrates their 150th anniversary.
The Paris-born administrator is confident that United can build a formidable team in the forthcoming transfer windows, which will help them win the league.
“We’ve just finished 15th and it seems like an impossible task. But why not aim for it? Why not do everything in our power?
“I firmly believe that we can do it. We have two or three summer windows to build a team to start competing to win the Premier League, and if we can achieve it before then, we’ll all be happy — and so nobody’s saying that we don’t want to win it until then.”
Berrada became United’s CEO last year after leaving his role as Man City’s Chief Football Operations Officer.
