Everton are looking to bring in attacking reinforcements during the January transfer window and Atletico Madrid’s Brazilian centre-forward Matheus Cunha is the latest name to be linked with a potential move to Goodison Park. Spanish outlet Relevo report that Everton and Leeds United have joined Premier League rivals Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the battle to sign the 23-year-old.
Cunha joined Atletico in August 2021 but has fallen out of favour under Diego Simeone this term with the likes of Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann also vying for forward positions. Prior to his time in the Spanish capital, he netted 22 goals in 92 games for German clubs RB Leipzig and Hertha Berlin after beginning his senior career in Switzerland with Sion having impressed scouts at the Dallas Cup youth tournament.
Last season he registered seven times in 37 matches for Atletico but he hasn’t found the net in 17 outings for them this season although none of those appearances for his club were for the full 90 minutes and he has started just twice this term. Cunha also has eight caps for Brazil but is yet to score for his country.
READ MORE: Everton 'enquire' about Atletico Madrid star amid competition from three Premier League rivals
Despite the obvious lack of goals of late, Cunha does still have several aspects of his game that might appeal to potential suitors. In terms of playing style, Comparisonator’s Similarity Comparison algorithm rates Leicester City’s Patson Daka as his closest match currently operating in the Premier League with a score of 90% and after that, Aston Villa’s Danny Ings is next up on 75% with another Leicester City man, Kelechi Iheanacho on 72%.
Using Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool to import Cunha’s statistics from this season so far against strikers already plying their trade in the Premier League shows that despite not having scored so far this term, his average 0.44 assists would put him in first place ahead of Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy on the same figure but with more minutes and Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus on 0.42. Per 90 minutes played he would also rank third for shot assists at 1.33 behind Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez (1.78) and Heung-min Son (1.6).
Cunha’s work out of possession also looks solid as he would be ranked first for ball recoveries, when a player recovers the ball in a situation where neither team had it. He averages 2.43 per game, ahead of Bournemouth’s Philip Billing who is next best on 2.14 and Leeds United’s Patrick Bamford on 1.9 while he’s third for ball recoveries in the opposition half (0.88) behind Leeds United’s Rodrigo (1.12) and the aforementioned Bamford (0.95).
The player from Joao Pessoa in the state of Paraiba would also be third for successful defensive actions on 5.53 behind Billing (6.59) and his compatriot Roberto Firmino of Liverpool (5.54) and third for successful crosses (0.66) after Leandro Trossard of Brighton & Hove Albion (0.87) and Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling (0.84). His impressive work rate is also displayed through him topping the list for defensive duels won (2.43) ahead of Billing (2.32) and Firmino (2.29).
Such attributes have endeared certain hard-working strikers like Denis Stracqualursi with the Goodison Park faithful in the past as cult heroes but at the moment with only bottom club Wolves having scored fewer goals (eight) than Frank Lampard's side (11 from 15 games) it would seem that Everton are crying out for someone who knows where the back of the net is and can hit the ground running in January.
Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising over 100 different parameters. Click here for more details.
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