Matheus Cunha can be Man Utd's modern-day Eric Cantona: Wonder goal against Arsenal proves maverick summer signing has X factor to follow in genius' footsteps

Cunha was United's first signing of last summer and even though Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko arrived later with their own reputations and for bigger fees, there was something about the Brazilian which appealed to fans. And Berrada was not shy in talking up the new arrival. 

"He’s a player that I think fans are going to love,” United's chief executive told The Athletic. "We can talk about his technical abilities and he can play in three different positions. He’s a playmaking attacking midfielder; he can score goals, he can make assists. I think he’s going to lift people off their seats. He’s got a bit of a swagger about him that people are going to really like. Dare I say, (Eric) Cantona-esque."

Berrada was not the first person to make the comparison. Before United had agreed to sign Cunha, former England midfielder Chris Waddle said: "He can be temperamental, but perhaps United would be the making of him. He’s got a huge opportunity here. If he’s one of the players to turn United around and challenging again, he could be like Eric Cantona, the man who changed United."

Former United captain Bryan Robson, who played with Cantona for two seasons, also said: "Matheus Cunha has got a real character about himself. He's got a presence. He's got a little bit more pace than Eric Cantona had, but Eric had unbelievable ability on the ball and was one of the fans' favourites. So I hope Cunha can go on to be another Eric Cantona because that's going to be great for United."

Cunha did not score or register an assist until firing in a brilliant goal against Brighton in late October but before then his impact was already being hailed. Former Liverpool player Stephen Warnock called Cunha "exceptional" and said he was the club's best signing of the summer.

"He’s got an arrogance that reminds me of Eric Cantona – you can see that he’s embraced playing for Manchester United. It’s almost as if whenever he steps on the pitch in a United shirt, he’s showing people the reason the club have signed him." 

Paul Ince, who also played with Cantona at United, added: "Cunha plays with an attitude where it looks like he belongs at Old Trafford. To be a great United player like Cantona, you must have a fantastic mentality, and Cunha has that. He’s proven he’s able to play under the weight of the shirt and the pressure of the badge week-in, week-out. We’ve seen plenty of players in the recent past who have come and gone having succumbed to the pressure."

Cunha, however, showed signs of succumbing to the pressure during United's dismal run of three wins in 13 matches, a sequence of results which played a big part in Ruben Amorim being sacked. Amorim had even suggested that the spotlight was weighing heavily on Cunha now he was at United. "He's in a different club, different pressure, but I think he copes with that really well. He was struggling because he was not scoring and because of social media views, he was thinking too much about the numbers..."

The numbers, to be fair to Cunha, were concerning. He had scored only one goal in his 11 matches in all competitions and contributed zero assists. The numbers have since improved, with the Brazilian scoring four goals and getting two assists in his last 10 matches. And he has popped up just when his team needed him. 

He set up the opening goal for Bruno Fernandes in the 4-1 win at Wolves; he scored what looked to be the winner in the 4-4 draw against Bournemouth only for the Cherries to equalise; he struck at Aston Villa less than two minutes after Morgan Rogers' wonder goal in the eventual 2-1 loss; he bagged the equaliser at Leeds in what proved to be Amorim's last game.

The change in coach has impacted Cunha in a negative sense on one level in that that he has started neither of United's two games under Michael Carrick. But he has seized both of his opportunities from the bench setting up Patrick Dorgu's clincher against City (he also set up Mason Mount's goal which was ruled out for offside) and then conjuring his incredible winner against Arsenal. And he seems to be taking advantage of the change in mood at the club since Carrick replaced Amorim. 

There have been reports that Carrick's training sessions are much more enjoyable than Amorim's and that he is not loading the players with too much information as the Portuguese did. According to The Sun, Amorim's long and highly-tactical sessions would leave the players "emotionally drained" and it is easy to see how that could negatively impact a player like Cunha, who is at his best when he plays on instinct.

That's what he did at the Emirates Stadium and with his brilliant finish against Brighton which set the tone for one of his best displays of the season. And it's what Cantona used to do. The Frenchman scored two cracking winning goals against Arsenal from similar range to Cunha's on Sunday, handing United 1-0 wins over the Gunners at Old Trafford in 1993-94 and 1995-96.

Cantona is unquestionably the player who transformed United's fortunes more than anyone else. He arrived early in the 1992-93 season, when United were approaching a 26th season without winning a league title and had won just six of their first 16 games. His nine goals and 11 assists in the next six months inspired them to end that long, long wait for a league title. 

The club's trophy haul while Cantona was at Old Trafford says it all. They won two FA Cups but most importantly four out of five Premier League titles, missing out to Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95 largely because Cantona had missed the second half of the season due to being banned for his kung-fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan. 

Cantona's capacity for occasional shocking violence - he was sent off four times for United, including for stamping on Swindon Town's John Muncur - is another reason he has been compared to Cunha. The Brazilian was sent off twice last season for Wolves and banned for a total of six games for fighting with Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez and clashing with Ipswich Town's security staff.

The season after Cantona left, retiring in 1997 at the early age of 30 after feeling alienated by the club's commercial pursuits, United missed out on the title again to Arsenal. They soon filled the void he had left, winning the treble in 1999 and also dominating the first decade of the 21st century before fading as a force since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Ferguson has often described Cantona as his greatest ever signing and has said that his arrival "changed the landscape of Manchester United".

But here's the thing about Cantona: he was never utterly prolific like Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy or other United greats. His 82 goals in five years put him 23rd in the club's list of all-time scorers, below Bruno Fernandes, David Beckham and even Anthony Martial. 

His highest goal tally in a season was 18, in an era when Andy Cole and Alan Shearer struck 34 times in single campaigns. He was only United's top scorer in two of his five seasons. But he compensated with a huge number of assists, 63 in total. And he delivered when it mattered most, such as scoring the only goal in the title decider at Newcastle in 1996 or late on in the FA Cup final against Liverpool that same year.

Cunha, who is the same age as Cantona was when he joined United, has a long, long way to go if he wants to truly live up to the comparisons with the Frenchman. He is well aware of that. "I need to do much more things to be compared to him," Cunha told The Sun this season. "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."

But at the Emirates Stadium Cunha set down the right path towards following in Cantona's footsteps and he just needs to keep on going.