Atletico Madrid have confirmed the signing of Matheus Cunha from Hertha Berlin, as Los Colchoneros’ search for a forward finally comes to an end.
The 22-year-old may not be in the mould of Luis Suarez, instead having a playing style more similar to that of Angel Correa, but he has been brought to Atletico to complete Diego Simeone’s attack.
His arrival comes after Atletico failed to reach an agreement with Fiorentina for Dusan Vlahovic, who is more of a typical No.9. Earlier in the summer Los Colchoneros had also tried to see if they could tempt Antoine Griezmann away from Barcelona, but no agreement was reached.
Cunha left Brazil at the age of 18 as he joined Swiss side Sion, but he didn’t stay there for long as his performances caught the eye of RB Leipzig, who paid 15 million euros for his services.
After a season and a half at Leipzig, Cunha made the switch to Hertha for a fee of 18 million euros. Now, another 18 months later, he has completed a move to Atletico Madrid.
Cunha may not be a prolific goalscorer, but his numbers are not bad. Ignoring his time at Leipzig, where he barely played, he found the back of the net five times in 11 games in his first season at Hertha. He followed that up with a return of seven goals and five assists last season.
Olympic winner
Cunha was part of Brazil’s Olympic-winning football team at the Tokyo Games this summer, as he played as the lone striker and scored three goals in five games, including one against Spain, en route to the gold medal.
Having now joined Atletico for a fee in the region of 30 million euros, Cunha will be looking to challenge Suarez, Correa and Joao Felix for a spot in Simeone’s starting line-up.
