Leeds United will need to pay at least €40m if they wish to sign Matheus Cunha from Hertha Berlin this summer.
That’s according to Berliner Kurier, who say the Bundesliga club have a ‘tricky decision’ to make regarding the Brazilian.
Cunha has been heavily linked with Leeds over the last few weeks, with it believed in Germany that a €36m move could be on the cards.
The last we heard was that they had expressed their interest in a deal, but there’s been little on the matter since that report on the 27th of May.
Berliner Kurier pick up on the potential transfer today and explain that Hertha’s new Director of Football, Fredi Bobic, is set to take charge today, and one of his first tasks is dealing with Cunha’s future.
They detail how after arriving from RB Leipzig 18 months ago for €18m, Cunha is now valued well above €30m and there ‘enough interested parties’ willing to pay that.
Therefore is it ‘quite conceivable’ that his transfer fee will be increased to €40m as something of a poker game is happening around the forward.
That’s a ‘tempting’ price for Hertha as with that money Bobic could bring in two or three new players for the squad ‘without burdening the club’s coffers.’
That’s a ‘tempting thought’, but the key question is how valuable Cunha is to them. He has 13 goals and ten assists in 39 games so far, and there is a belief that he is yet to show his full performance, given he is only 22-years-old.
If the club believe in that potential, there is an argument they should keep him, and coach Pal Dardai certainly appreciates his qualities.
But there is another side to the player, who can often play ‘selfishly’ and is ‘moody on the pitch’.
Indeed Dardai’s predecessor, Bruno Labbadia, accused the player of dragging the team down ‘with snide gestures’.
It is things like that which could tempt Bobic into a sale, too, although he will listen to his manager’s assessment before answering the ‘crucial’ question of whether he should be sold or not.
Either way, Leeds interest is there but the price now seems to be at least €40m, a big figure for a player who is clearly trouble when he wants to be.
