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Oscar Haley

Who is Atletico Madrid forward Matheus Cunha? Puskas nominee linked with Leeds United profiled

Leeds United are reportedly one of just a number of Premier League sides interested in landing Atletico Madrid forward Matheus Cunha.

The 23-year-old, who was linked with Manchester United last January, has featured 17 times this season for Diego Simeone's side, but has failed to find the back of the net once.

According to Italian journalist Matteo Moretto, Leeds, Aston Villa, Everton and Wolves are all said to be keen on signing the Brazilian international in the upcoming January transfer window.

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Taking to Twitter, Moretto wrote: "The bid for Matheus Cunha opens. Aston Villa are interested, as we [Relevo] reported a few days ago, but Lopetegui's Wolves push hard and take the lead. Leeds and Everton, further away, but in the race. Nothing is 100% closed yet."

Given his poor form in front of goal this season, it would be interesting to see Leeds opt to pursue Cunha, who has won eight caps for Brazil.

However, it should be noted that Cunha is less of an out and out centre-forward and more of a wide-forward or second striker, where he has spent most of his playing time during his young career.

Cunha made the move to Europe to join FC Sion back in 2017 from Brazilian side Coritiba. After showing signs of promise in Switzerland, RB Leipzig came calling a year later, paying around £15m for the forward.

However, his time at Leipzig lasted just a season and a half, with the forward then moving on in January 2020 to join Hertha Berlin.

And then a year later, Cunha made another move, signing for Atletico in August 2021, who he scored seven goals in all competitions for.

During his time in Germany, Cunha was hardly prolific. He made 92 appearances between Leipzig and Hertha, scoring 22 goals.

However, his current manager Diego Simeone revealed in September just what Cunha brings to Atletico, which could be part of the reason for Leeds' interest in the Brazilian international.

"Due to his characteristics, he is the ideal player for Atlético," Simeone told Spanish outlet AS in September.

"He competes with [Alvaro] Morata who is very good, with a goal and working hard for the team.

"Cunha is strong, we need him, he transmits energy, he has a goal, strength, he is not afraid, he goes to the clash and that is what we need."

The reality is, Leeds could really do with adding another body to their attacking ranks. Cunha is versatile and can play all across the front three and in behind a centre-forward.

While he may not have been a prolific goalscorer so far in his career, he is only 23-years-old with plenty of time to develop.

And it's not like Cunha is not highly talented either.

He was nominated for the 2019 FIFA Puskas award after producing an unbelievable Maradona turn on the edge of the box for Leipzig, before scooping the ball over Bayer Leverkusen's Lukáš Hrádecký.

Having failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League this season, Atletico could be keen to move Cunha on in order to generate some much needed transfer funds.

Simeone's side sit fifth in La Liga, with no guarantee they will definitely make the top four to qualify for the competition again next season either - meaning they could be open to selling Cunha for around £20m.

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