Matheus Cunha confirms Atletico Madrid exit with farewell message

Matheus Cunha has posted a farewell message to Atletico Madrid ahead of an expected move to the Premier League with Wolves in January.

Cunha joined Atletico from Hertha Berlin for around €26m in 2021 but has struggled to establish himself during his 18 months in the Spanish capital.

The Brazilian forward has only started 10 times in La Liga in total, with only two of those coming in the first half of this season. He found the net seven times in all competitions in 2021/22 but is yet to score in any of his 17 appearances in 2022/23.

“Loving and feeling loves. Things like that will never change,” Cunha wrote in a statement on Instagram.

“Identifying with something, feeling important, feeling affection and feeling part of a whole family is different. To you, Atleticos, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

“You have fantastic players. You have fans who make you feel at home even on the other side of the world.

“Football is like that, like any other job, there are those who are in charge, they have their hierarchies and there are those who make the decisions, and then you also have to make yours. My heart will always have a piece of Atleti!

“You always had my everything, simply because I felt that you gave me everything. Thank you very much.”

90min reported earlier this week that a transfer to Wolves was close to being finalised. A deal has been agreed between the English club and Atletico for an initial loan that can be made permanent in summer for a fee of €40m (£35m).

Cunha is interested in working with new Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui.

Aston Villa, Everton and Leeds also spoke to Atletico, while Cunha was additionally offered to Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle by his representatives.