Matheus Cunha is set to take the No. 10 shirt from Marcus Rashford if his Manchester United move is completed.
United are preparing to pay the Wolves star’s £62.5m release clause and will reportedly make a formal approach as they aim to begin their summer transfer business by signing him on a five-year deal.
According to talkSPORT, the Red Devils have offered Cunha his preferred shirt number - which has been held by Rashford since 2018 - in a bid to tempt the wantaway Brazilian playmaker to the red half of Manchester despite United’s lack of European football.
It suggests Rashford will be leaving Old Trafford this summer, with the England international considered surplus to Ruben Amorim’s future plans and therefore seeking a transfer away from his boyhood club following the completion of his loan spell at Aston Villa.
Rashford, who has been omitted from United’s 32-man squad for their post-season trip to Asia, managed four goals and six assists from 17 appearances in all competitions since joining Unai Emery’s side in January.
Despite the West Midlands club holding a £40m option to buy him, the player is said to be pursuing a “dream” move to FC Barcelona and appears unlikely to return to Villa Park after thanking the team for “an incredible few months”.
Cunha, meanwhile, has spent the last two-and-a-half seasons at the Molineux after completing his permanent switch from Atlético Madrid in 2023.
He ended the 2024-25 season with 15 goals and six assists in 33 league appearances for Wolves. His best-ever return in a single campaign, that would have made him United’s leading goal-scorer by a comfortable margin.
If Cunha becomes United’s newest No. 10, he will follow in the footsteps of club greats including Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Teddy Sheringham.
