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Is Wolves Talent A Potential Arteta Option

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Manager Mikel Arteta and his backroom Arsenal boys will have to quickly get their transfer ducks in a row if the club are to make the statement January signing that fans are all hoping for, as the New Year window is quickly edging towards deadline day and the speculation rumour mill has predictably gone into overdrive.

I am old school when it comes to transfer windows, it was far simpler when they ended at the end of the month and then occasionally you had deals go through so late they may have taken place over the summer window instead, but this year we officially have the first few days of February to wheel and deal in an effort to improve future Arsenal standings, and if some of the latest speculation proves to be true, we will be spending a good portion of the next few days in talks with Wolverhampton Wanderers over Matheus Cunha.

The 25 year old eleven capped Brazilian international is very versatile at the top of the pitch, and having joined Wolves initially on loan for the second half of the 2022/23 campaign, they made the deal permanent that summer for a reported £44 million and he has simply gone from strength to strength. With ten goals coming in 23 appearances across all competitions this season, his overall record at the Molineux stands as 26 goals in 64 starts and 15 substitute showings.

Although it is believed that Wolves do not need to sell this window to ensure that they stay on the right side of the Profit and Sustainability Rules for the current campaign, he has been linked with a move away from the club for most of the window and now that we are at the real business end of deals being pushed through, it seems the Midlands club are expecting a mini bidding war.

It is being reported that although he is not our top striking target for the second half of the year, that we are keeping very close tabs on what his availability and price could be in the next few days, particularly if Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa formally open negotiations as it is expected that they will soon do.

Cunha is clearly one of their best players right now, and given that they are 18th in the Premier League table and massively in a relegation dogfight, you would not expect them to let him go on the cheap. But new manager Vitor Pereira has been critical of his body language and application in recent weeks following his arrival at the club in mid-December, and the criticism has become louder with results not going their way.

If the aim was to motivate him, it seems to have backfired as it was originally believed they did not want to sell him until the summer at the earliest, and with a nod to his importance to the side in their quest for survival, the line is obviously that they have no desire to sell, however, there is a quiet acceptance that they may well now have to do just that if a fee is too good to refuse and the player has become tired of being called out.

Top target or not, it may be worth remembering this one.

Image Source: unsplash.com

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