Matheus Cunha is set to become Manchester United’s first signing of the mid-year transfer window in 2025 and, perhaps, a symbol of Ruben Amorim’s rebuild.
The attacking star appears on the verge of joining from Wolves after United agreed to pay his release clause of £62.5 million ($84.3m). The deal is expected to be finalised in the next week or so.
Cunha will become the 11th Brazilian to have played for United’s men’s team. Surprisingly, not one player from the South American nation had pulled on the famous red jersey until 2003, despite the storied football heritage of both club and country.
Here, The Sporting News ranks the Brazilians to have represented United, with supporters certainly hoping that Cunha will end up near the top of the list.
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Man United Brazilian players ranked
There are 10 Brazilian men who have played senior football for Manchester United, and it’s fair to say that very few of them enjoyed entirely successful Old Trafford careers.
Some have certainly had moments to celebrate, though. Our ranking is below.
10. Rodrigo Possebon (2008-10)
Ranked 10th purely because he played so few games for the club, Rodrigo Possebon was a highly rated midfielder who joined United as an 18-year-old but saw his development curtailed after being injured by an Emmanuel Pogatetz challenge in a cup game against Middlesbrough.
He went on loan to Braga before returning to Brazil with Santos, but his career never really took off.
9. Kleberson (2003-2005)
The first Brazilian to pull on the red shirt, Kleberson was signed after impressing for the Selecao as they won the 2002 World Cup. Nominally brought in to replace Juan Sebastian Veron, in a sense he did: he, too, had a wholly uninspiring time at Old Trafford.
After making only 30 appearances in two seasons, Kleberson left for Besiktas and later returned to Brazil with Flamengo. He did at least get an FA Cup winners’ medal with the Red Devils.
8. Antony (2022 —)
He showed flashes of promise in his first season at United under Erik ten Hag, but Antony quickly became the perfect symbol of the club’s modern malaise: a player seemingly not good enough who was signed for an eye-wateringly large sum of money.
As United laboured in Ten Hag’s final year in charge, Antony became increasingly ineffective, while off-field legal issues complicated things further. He was loaned to Real Betis in January 2025, which has given the winger a new lease of life. He could still have a future at Old Trafford, but it’s much more likely he is sold.
7. Alex Telles (2020-2023)
Alex Telles was signed to provide a challenge for Luke Shaw’s position at left-back not long after Shaw himself said publicly that United needed to bring in more players. An experienced campaigner for Brazil and at club level with Porto, he proved himself a capable if not entirely reliable option in the back four under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before being loaned to Sevilla for the 2022/23 season and then joining Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
He scored a stunning volley in a UEFA Champions League game against Villarreal, for which he is probably best remembered.
6. Andreas Pereira (2014-2022)
Andreas Pereira joined United’s youth academy in 2011 from PSV and worked his way up to the first team, making his debut under Louis van Gaal in 2014 in a humiliating 4-0 EFL Cup defeat to MK Dons. He then spent positive loan spells in La Liga with Granada and Valencia before becoming more of a United regular from 2018 onwards.
Pereira got a lot of football under Solskjaer but was never really able to sustain top form, and he spent two further seasons away from the club on loan at Lazio and Flamengo. He then signed for Fulham in 2022, where he has been an important player since.
5. Fred (2018-2023)
Fred was signed by Jose Mourinho from Shakhtar Donetsk for around £47m ($67m) in June 2018, having previously been linked with Manchester City. In his early years at United, it began to seem like City had dodged a bullet.
Erratic in his passing and lacking the finesse often associated with Brazilian players, Fred was nonetheless a useful combative presence in midfield who did his best work without the ball. Indeed, his effectiveness became clear when Ten Hag’s team suffered a steep decline in results after letting him leave for Fenerbahce. To this day, fans look back on his “McFred” midfield partnership with Scott McTominay with both fondness and bewilderment.
4. Fabio da Silva (2008-2014)
One of two twins who were signed by United after impressing scouts at a 2005 youth event, Fabio played 56 games under Sir Alex Ferguson in all competitions.
Although he did not become as important as his brother (largely because Patrice Evra had the left-back role locked down for years) Fabio was a very useful squad player as United won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final in 2010/11 — a game in which he played the full 90 minutes.
3. Anderson (2007-2015)
Something of a cult hero on the Stretford End these days, Anderson played 181 games for United at a time when they were one of the strongest sides in the world. A winner of four Premier League titles, the EFL Cup, the Champions League and the Club World Cup, the midfielder is the most decorated Brazilian in Red Devils history.
Although not at the level of United’s first-choice midfielders at the time — the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick are among the club’s greatest modern players — Anderson was an energetic box-to-box player who played an important role in a series of trophy triumphs, famously scoring in the penalty shootouts in the 2008 Champions League and 2009 EFL Cup finals.
2. Casemiro (2022 —)
While certainly the finest Brazilian player in terms of overall career that United have ever signed, Casemiro’s spell in England since signing from Real Madrid has been mixed. After a strong first season in which he played important roles in their EFL Cup triumph and third-place league finish, Casemiro’s performance level plummeted in Ten Hag’s second term in charge as injuries also took their toll.
Despite looking increasingly off the pace early in 2024/25, he recovered to regain his first-team place under Amorim and enjoyed some good moments in their run to the Europa League final, but the experienced midfielder likely doesn’t have a long-term future at the club. Still, those 2022/23 performances in particular elevate him to second on this list.
1. Rafael da Silva (2008-2015)
Given his longevity, his trophy wins and the fact he joined the club for nothing as a youngster, Rafael represents the best of Brazil in a Man United jersey.
The heir-apparent to esteemed right-back Gary Neville, Rafael quickly became a fan favourite after a debut season in 2008/09 in which he was shortlisted for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. He went on to make 170 appearances for the club, winning three Premier League titles among a host of honours, and unlike most of the players in this list, he maintained a consistently high level of performance.
Rafael signed for Lyon in 2015 and made 139 appearances for the French giants before further spells with Istanbul Basaksehir and Botafogo, where he won the Brasileirao and Copa Libertadores double in 2024, although his involvement was very limited due to a succession of injuries. Now working in the media, his infectious smile and love for United means he is still hugely popular among fans.
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