When Cunha faced United at 2017 Dallas Cup

Our new signing, who completed his move from the fellow Premier League outfit on Thursday, was on the Old Trafford radar as far back as 2017 after impressing for Brazilian club Coritiba against United at the annual Dallas Cup youth tournament.

Cunha was a budding 17-year-old at the time and, now 26, still retains vivid memories of facing the Reds in the United States – and what happened after the group-stage game, which finished 1-1.

“I have the photo [of playing against United],” Matheus said, when we surprised him with archive footage of the match upon his recent arrival at Old Trafford.

“I don’t know why but I always keep this photo in my phone, but I think something inside of me says your way will be together one day! 

“And I think this game was the biggest change in my life because I played for Coritiba at the time and, when they played against United, I am young — I think the competition was Under-20 and then I was 17 or 18 at the time — when I played against United, the competition is starting to talk about me a little bit. 

“I remember the director at the time, who flew with United, goes to ask the director at Coritiba who I am. And the director comes to me and says: ‘Look, you can be promoted to the first team, the guys at United decided to ask about you.’

“And I’m so excited, imagining a dream where I go to United and, after that, the conversation stopped! But, I think after this, the Switzerland club, Sion, say: ‘If this guy has something to talk about for the director of United, then we need to pick him!’ 

“About this game, I think this is where I started my journey.”

It’s a cool story and, as the Brazilian forward recalls, he joined Swiss side Sion just three months after the competition, his first move into European football, where he has since enjoyed a successful career that has brought him full circle to Old Trafford.

As far as the tournament was concerned, Coritiba’s draw with United was an upset that saw them advance to the knockout stage at our expense, and they would go on to the semi-finals before being edged out by eventual champions Dallas.

But the experience was about more than the silverware for Matheus, who goes on to tell us how the challenge and thrill of coming up against his new club helped to ignite his journey to the top as a young player.