Nottingham Forest and Arsenal have their sights set on Matheus Cunha, but is the Wolves ace for sale? Sky Sports News' Danyal Khan explains the situation…
Could Matheus Cunha leave Wolves in this window?
Two things can be true at the same time.
Matheus Cunha is attracting interest from the likes of Nottingham Forest and Arsenal, but why wouldn't he? He has consistently shown huge improvements in his performances over the past 18 months at Wolves.
A versatile forward who is incredibly good at carrying the ball, he is a player who has the potential to consistently score double figures and provide assists every season. But as the wins over Southampton and Fulham showed, he can create magic from absolutely nothing. Almost priceless.
But from what I understand, the Brazilian is not for sale in this window.
Despite the interest in him, Wolves have had no bids for him, nor any contact with other clubs regarding Cunha, and they are not interested in selling such an important player at this stage of the season – especially when there are so few time is over.
Their business model is likely to see a big sell-off in the summer window in the hope of funding more revenue, so there's every chance Cunha's future plays out again in the summer, but for January Wolves' position is clear: he's not for sale .
What about his contract situation?
This is a bit more nuanced and complicated. Cunha still has two and a half years left on his contract and there is a new contract on the table that he can sign.
However, he is unlikely to sign it at this point.
Whether it's due to the noise around him or his own personal ambition, we'll have to wait and see, but Wolves are relaxed about the situation.
The desire to give him a new contract was more about rewarding his recent performances, with Cunha also captaining the side for the first time on a few occasions.
It's also worth noting that Wolves are not under any financial pressure to sell him in January; they made over £90 million from the sales of Max Kilman and Pedro Neto last summer.
Cunha not yet signing on the dotted line is not expected to have any impact on his immediate future and I think from Wolves' perspective they are hoping that the noise around the Brazilian will calm down once Deadline Day is over.
What are Wolves fans feeling?
It's never ideal to read or hear that one of your star players is being linked with an exit, especially when the team is struggling to get results on the pitch and in a relegation battle.
There is a sense of déjà vu among Wolves fans as some fans may draw comparisons between Cunha and when Wolves sold Morgan Gibbs-White to Nottingham Forest a few seasons ago.
My own thoughts are that this is quite different. With Gibbs-White, wolves may have been reluctant sellers at the time, but after sitting in the press conferences with Bruno Lage, the then Wolves manager, it was clear from what he consistently said that there was a price at which wolves were willing to sell. .
The timing and circumstances are different too: this was in the summer of 2022, just as the season started, and I think at the time it seemed like a pretty good offer of over £40m for the young midfielder.
But as previously mentioned, Wolves' safety in the Premier League is in serious jeopardy and if you lose your star with limited time to replace him, you can imagine the damaging impact this would have on the squad, Vitor Pereira and the fans.
There is also frustration among fans towards the likes of Wolves chairman Jeff Shi, which can be heard during recent Wolves matches. A lack of perceived investment coupled with higher ticket prices has led many to question the management of the club by Chinese company Fosun International.
However, with the club's safety in the Premier League this season in serious doubt, if Wolves stay on their feet, the board may be in for a shock move into adjusting their recruitment model in the future.
However, that is for the future. Ultimately, the Cunha situation is an unnecessary distraction that anyone associated with Wolves could really do without thinking about their battle to stay in the Premier League.
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