The Athletic’s Andy Mitten has revealed the two significant reasons why Liam Delap rejected a move to Manchester United that Matheus Cunha disagrees with.
Manchester United’s 2025 summer transfer window has taken off to a flying start, with the club announcing the pending £62.5 million arrival of Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening day of the market.
The 26-year-old Brazilian has become Rúben Amorim’s maiden signing of what is expected to be an electric summer for the Reds, with the club looking to complete as many as six first-team signings and a host of sales.
Those who spent the second half of the season on loan, Marcus Rashford, Antony, Jadon Sancho, and Tyrell Malacia, will all be sold this summer, while the futures of Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Højlund, among others, hang in the balance, too.
Amorim is looking to add further attacking talent to his front line in the coming months, with Bryan Mbeumo documented as a key potential addition.
Two reasons why Delap rejected United for Chelsea
Although Cunha was United’s first signing, the club were hoping to follow this up with a move for Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap, but the 22-year-old striker instead chose to secure a move to Chelsea.
Speaking on The Athletic’s Talk of the Devil podcast, United correspondent Andy Mitten has now explained that Delap’s two major reasons for rejecting the club’s proposal revolved around the side finishing 15th in the Premier League the previous season and Amorim’s tentative position as United’s head coach.
“I was told a couple of weeks ago with Delap that he had doubts about Manchester United, A, because of the obvious, the way the team is, the league position, et cetera, and B, because of the mixed messages coming out around the manager as to whether he will be in charge or not,” Mitten explained.
“So I think that is a negative of when the manager comes out with these really brutally honest assessments of himself. And the headlines the next day are ‘is Rúben Amorim going to be Manchester United’s manager?’
“And then the next time he speaks to the media, he’s like, no, no, I didn’t quite mean it like that. This could be a negative effect to that. Manchester United is a very turbulent, unstable club. We’ve seen that this season. That doesn’t make it any more attractive to a potential suit. It makes it less attractive.”
Cunha will completely disagree with Delap’s reasoning
While Delap chose to head to Chelsea due to their more stable position at the top of the table, Cunha has joined United, as he understands the real project being built at Old Trafford.
United are almost guaranteed to have a better Premier League season than last campaign, as it could not get much worse unless the side are relegated, and this summer is about buying players who can shoulder United back to the top.
By all accounts, Cunha is said to be incredibly excited at the thought of being one of the main figures at the club that can launch United back into the footballing elite, and sees him self as a talisman.
While Delap is looking at United in the short term, Cunha is viewing his signing as part of a long-term project that he is getting on the ground floor of, which is the mentality needed when joining a club with a vision for the future.
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