Matheus Cunha arrives with the usual broad smile, introduces himself to everyone for the interview and starts talking about football casually.
It takes a few minutes to start recording – you don't want to interrupt his excitement when he starts a conversation. The big news on TV from Ebereechi Eze's threatening move to Arsenal, his first few weeks at Manchester United, tactical challenges – all even before the record of our crew press'. Cunha's lively personality is the first impression you get from him.
“I think I always try to be myself outside the field,” he says Sky Sports. “Modest, funny guy. I try to talk to everyone and respect everyone, and I always think about learning from everyone.
“But when I go to the field, I always know why I am here. I always think back to all the difficult things that have built me ​​to be this man. Things like this cannot play against me, they have to play with me. I always try to manage psychology. It's not easy! But I always try.”
The energy and fire cunha shows on the field helped to produce a good debut for Manchester United against Arsenal, when he produced four shots and four dribbles and was perhaps their best player. Enough to generate fans and to remove the concern of some, whose eyebrows were raised when he drew because of his recent disciplinary record.
Last season, for Wolves, he missed five games in two different suspensions. The first, a two-game ban, after he turned out to have acted in an “incorrect way” after a fight with a member of the staff of Ipswich after a competition in December.
The same load followed in March and earned three more games on the sidelines after reaching Defender Milos Kerkez in a FA Cup match with Bournemouth.
What does he think of people who say he has a mood? “To be honest, I don't really care,” he replies. “I think everything I did in the game is love for the game.
“I am very passionate about winning games, to make my team and myself better to achieve things. I think I always believe in something more in me.
“And if I bring this to United, it is something that pushes me ahead. Of course we can make mistakes, and I have made some mistakes. I am sorry, my apologies for. But it is always with a good intention.
“I always try to do something good and perhaps to pass a little (he means 'going overboard'). I never put myself in it [positions to make people] Ask my character, because inside I know who I am. “
When asked if he is the type of player who likes to play on the edge, he responds quickly: “Yes, to be honest. Everyone talks about the pressure in this club, but I always wanted to be here.
“Of course I understand that it is one of the largest clubs in the world. The pressure is great, but I always try to feel the pressure as a privilege. I have always dreamed to get here, and when I am here, I can't have this excuse too much, you know. It's a privilege.”
We are at the reception of the renovated training area of ​​Manchester United. Right behind us are replicas of some of the most important trophies that the club has won – a club he watched in Brazil when he was a child.
“I don't try to look around at the trophies,” he laughs. “I hope I can build my story here with these players.”
It has already been a long way for the 26-year-old. One of the difficulties he mentioned and that helped shape his personality was so early to become a professional football player.
At the age of 18, after playing at the Academy for Coritiba FC, he was scouted by Sion and moved to Switzerland to sign his first pro contract. Proverbs at RB Leipzig, Hertha Berlin and Atletico Madrid followed, until he came to Wolves in 2023.
European football formed him as a player, and he says it helped him to develop more tactical consciousness and invest in his physicality. As a child he usually played as a no. 10, but during his career he also had successful spells as a striker.
His versatility, in addition to his goals core record, attracted Man Utd, and he seems to play happy as one of the No. 10s by Ruben Amorim.
“It is something Ruben, when he brought me here, talked a lot about,” he reveals. “I think my perfect position to play around the middle is a bit between midfield and the striker.
“So, a no. 10, I think this is the position that is easier to understand, behind the attacker, where you can create much more space. This is the position for which they brought me here, it is somewhere where I feel at ease, and I hope I can bring some creativity for the team.”
During his menstruation in Europe, he also worked on his language skills. In addition to his native Portuguese, there is English, Spanish, French, as well as a little bit of German and Italian – five in total, because: “If you put together my German and my Italian, it counts as just one!”
They are of course important tools to communicate with teammates and a respectable list of managers, including Julian Nagelsmann, Ralf Rangnick and Diego Simeone.
He always speaks heartily about Gary O'Neil at Wolves and how he helped him to develop in different positions. Then there is Amorim, who played an important role in his move to Manchester.
“Ruben is someone who helped me a lot to get here and explain how my position would be, how I can bring him something he wants,” he says. “I feel very adapted, very comfortable. He is someone who always pushes me forward.
“I love to have someone to push me a little more. We never fight, but we have, like, some conversations when I say something, and then they say:” No, it's so “and I understand and continue!
“He is someone who can push the players forward, and I think this is the best quality in a manager. Bring players in positions and shows everyone their qualities.”
After the interview, Matheus hangs around again for a few good minutes. Bruno Fernandes appears and joked with the new signing. He then stops talking to more people in the training field before he leaves and again focuses on Fulham, this Sunday.
Smiling, jokes and looking comfortably on and out of the field hoping to bring this Manchester United in the hope of bringing fire, energy and goals.