'Beautiful' - Matheus Cunha reveals true feelings about taking Rashford's Manchester United shirt number
Matheus Cunha has enjoyed his first week at Man Utd and was officially given his new shirt number.
Matheus Cunha admits it is a dream come true to finally be a Manchester United player, especially now that he has his dream shirt number to go along with it.
United made Cunha their first summer signing when they activated his £62.5 million release clause last month and the former Wolves star began training with his new teammates earlier this week. The 26-year-old was presented with his new United shirt after the group training session at Carrington on Tuesday, inheriting the No.10 shirt from Marcus Rashford.
Rashford is still contracted to United but has been stripped of his squad number ahead of an expected summer exit. He was one of five players handed an extended summer break to facilitate a transfer, though he took it upon himself to report to Carrington this week for an individual training regime. Those close to the player insist he would have been happy to report for first team training, even though is not part of Ruben Amorim's plans for next season.
Matheus Cunha reacts to his new shirt number
Matheus Cunha wore the No.10 shirt for Wolves last season as he netted an impressive 15 goals in the Premier League. It is understood the promise of the shirt number was a sweetener in the deal to bring him to Old Trafford, though the player did not need much convincing about joining Manchester United.
Cunha insists he has dreamed about playing for the club ever since he was a child and he admits it is a dream come true to wear such a famous number for the club.
“Yeah, wow. It's something that you always dream about,” he told official club media. “I can mention many players that use this shirt. It's so easy for me. Of course, I think the one that I always think about when I see this number in this shirt for me was Wayne Rooney. He was someone that I grew up to watch him play and I have [watched] many games now.
“Then I swapped shirts with Marcus [Rashford, after a game] also, I have his shirt in my home. But, of course, we know many players used this shirt – [Ruud] van Nistelrooy, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic. It's the dream not only to use the shirt, but with all the history they have around the number, it's something beautiful that I have the privilege to do it.”
Ruben Amorim wanted to add Premier League-proven players to his squad this summer, with Cunha quickly identified as a priority target. He is viewed as a player who can operate as an attacking midfielder, striker and a central midfielder if required, though his main task will be to add goals to a United side that managed just 44 in the league last season.
He added: “This is the most important, this is the most important. I don't know, with every single number, it will be a pleasure to use the shirt. But, yeah, with this one it’s something different. Then, of course, the responsibility is coming, and I hope I can do everything like goals, assists and help the team. So this is kind of a very important point for my position.”