Matheus Cunha reveals he is desperate to 'bring back the glory days' at Manchester United after being compared to Old Trafford icon Eric Cantona

Cantona is widely viewed as one of United's best-ever players, with the Frenchman playing a huge role in turning the Red Devils into the juggernaut that dominated English football for years in the 1990s and 2000s under manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Last month, former Premier League defender Stephen Warnock said Cunha has "got the aura of Cantona," and club CEO Omar Berrada previously stated that the £62.5 million ($85m) signing will prove to be "Cantona-esque" for the Red Devils. But the player himself thinks he needs to do a lot more before he can be spoken about in the same breath as the forward. 

He told The Sun: "Wow, what a player. I need to do much more things to be compared to him. When someone says something like this to me, I try to see the good part of this. To be someone who has a lot of passion to play for this club, to play football – and then try to represent everyone inside of the pitch. I feel privileged to be associated with these kind of things and with Cantona also. He made history. And if I can do a little percentage of what he did already, I’ll be very happy and then try to build my way to the guys to remember me also. I’m new at the club. I’m new in terms of the look, all the other performances from the past. Everything for me is new. So I have only my mind in bringing back the United glory days."

Arsenal reportedly wanted to sign Cunha from Wolves in January but he ended up signing a new deal that included the release clause that United triggered this summer. Now, he wants to "build his dream" at Old Trafford. 

He added: "You need to look at even the hard moments in the positive way. Of course, I’m not someone special. Of course, I have my doubts. I have the difficult moments, like everyone. But this kind of world, I don’t feel it is impactful, like pressure to play like for this club or maybe to be someone different from the others. I only want to do it my way. I want to help my team. I only want to build my dream. To be a little part of the United history – be successful – I will always go for that.”

The Brazil international ran circles around United for Wolves last season, as he picked up the man of the match award twice against Amorim's side. He scored one and assisted the other in their 2-0 win at Molineux and was instrumental in the 1-0 victory in the return fixture. 

When asked if United's players were relieved when Cunha joined them, he replied: "Yeah, exactly. It was exactly what happened! It was when I arrived and then I think my back was direct to Nous [Noussair Mazraoui] and to Leny. Because I only looked left and Leny was there. And they said, ‘Wow, wow, I’m so happy to have you on our side right now. It was so hard to get to the ball. And then we talked about the game. I was a little bit shy, you know, in the beginning. But these kind of moments help us be a little bit more comfortable. And then it was very good moments to remember."

United are currently on a four-match unbeaten streak, comprising three wins and a draw. They sit eighth in the Premier League but if results go their way this weekend, they could be back in the top four. But to do that, they will have to beat Tottenham at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon in a repeat of last season's Europa League final. This will be a good test of Amorim's team as they try and banish the horrors of last term.