Manchester United on Sunday agreed a deal to sign Brazil forward Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers as head coach Ruben Amorim quickly began a summer rebuild following the club’s worst ever English Premier League season.
United are to pay a reported ￡62.5 million (US$84.7 million), with Cunha agreeing a five-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.
The deal will be officially completed when he returns from international duty with Brazil.
Photo: AFP
Wolves confirmed they received a club record fee for Cunha, who scored 33 goals in 92 appearances over two-and-a-half years.
United could do with some of that firepower after a season of struggle in attack, with strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee scoring just 18 goals between them in all competitions.
Cunha managed 17 alone for Wolves last season to help them avoid relegation and secure an eighth straight season in the top flight.
United finished just one place above Wolves in the standings in 15th — their worst position since the Premier League began in 1992.
United also had their most losses in a Premier League season and recorded their lowest points total.
Cunha is the first signing in what is likely to be a summer of comings and goings at Old Trafford as Amorim attempts to turn the club’s fortunes around.
The joint record 20-time English champions have gone 12 years without the title since last winning it in former manager Alex Ferguson’s final season in 2012-2013.
United will be without European soccer next season after finishing in the bottom half of the table without winning a trophy.
Defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League final last month ended United’s last chance of securing a place in the UEFA Champions League.
United lost 1-0 despite dominating long periods of the final in a game that underlined their problems in front of goal.
Only relegated trio Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City — as well as Everton — scored fewer than United’s 44 goals in the league last season.
Amorim, who has described his United team as possibly the worst team in the club’s history, is expected to bring in a number of players in the off-season, but his funds will be limited by the failure to secure Champions League qualification.
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