In spite of heavy links with a January transfer and his apparent decision to stall on a new contract, Matheus Cunha claims he never considered leaving Wolves mid-season.
Matheus Cunha was one of the key players involved in the January transfer window rumours, with Arsenal among a number of clubs linked with a possible move for the Wolves forward.
Despite early claims that Cunha had agreed a new contract with his club, that deal remained unsigned for much of January, leading to reports that he was stalling to see if a transfer would materialise.
But with days left in the winter window, Cunha finally put pen to paper, and the transfer was officially off.
Speaking this week, Cunha claims he never considered a transfer to begin with.
“I never think about leaving, honestly,” Cunha said. “I know I have a lot of things to do already and I always said that this was the club that gave me the chance to come back.
“They opened the door for me and I always felt I wanted to give back everything so to leave in this type of situation is hard.
“I am so happy to be here. I hope to continue doing good things.”
Perhaps an Arsenal bid could have made Cunha reconsider that position, with Fabrizio Romano claiming that despite Arsenal making contact with the player’s camp in November or December, they never presented an official bid in January.
Regardless of why Cunha stuck around with Wolves, it was definitely a popular decision with fans of his current club. The team remain at risk of relegation, and they need their star goalscorer to help them stay up.
The upshot of those protracted contract negotiations appears to be a £62m release clause in Cunha’s new deal, with the clause becoming active this summer.