Everton are reportedly interested in signing Atletico Madrid striker Matheus Cunha in January and the Brazilian could prove to be a big upgrade on Neal Maupay in Frank Lampard’s side.
According to journalist Simon Phillips, Everton are better placed to sign the Atletico Madrid striker than Premier League rivals Wolves.
When asked by GIVEMESPORT if a move to Merseyside would be more appealing than a move to the Midlands, Phillips said:
“Oh, for sure. Everton have got a good history as a club anyway, and I think what’s more important is Frank Lampard’s pulling power.
“If a player is picking between Everton and Wolves, I think Lampard is going to be the standout decision-maker for any player really. We saw it at Chelsea, he single-handedly got players to sign for the club like Thiago Silva and Kai Havertz just with his influence.
“So, I think he can use that again at Everton, especially for a player like Cunha. I think they’ve got a better chance of signing him than Wolves.”
Should Cunha arrive at Goodison Park in January, he would likely compete with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Neal Maupay for a starting spot in Lampard’s attack, with form suggesting that the Brazilian would be a far better option than the former Brighton man.
Since joining from the Seagulls in the summer, the Frenchman has managed just one goal and no assists in ten appearances, with WhoScored awarding him a shocking 6.24 rating for his performances.
This ranks him as the 18th-best performer at Goodison Park so far this term, which suggests that Lampard needs far more quality in attack if he is going to keep Everton up again.
Cunha has struggled for game time and goals with Atletico, with just seven strikes and eight assists to his name in 54 appearances for the Spanish side.
However, his previous spell at Hertha Berlin returned 13 goals and ten assists in just 40 appearances, which suggests that the £25.8m-rated ace does have the ability to be a big threat in the final third, something Maupay does not pose.
If we compare Cunha’s stats from last season to the Frenchman’s stats from this one, then the Brazilian outscores him in plenty of areas, including shots on target per 90 mins (1.91 vs 0.65), shot-creating actions per 90 (2.38 vs 1.15) and percentage of dribbles completed (85.7% vs 16.7%).
This suggests that with regular starts at Goodison Park the “extraordinary” Cunha – as dubbed by Paolo Tramezzani – could be a much better option than Maupay in Lampard’s squad.
