Matheus Nunes: Things to know about the Portuguese midfielder

17 June 2021 17:00

Sporting CP have helped produce more than their fair shared of talented youngsters, and the latest gem off the production line looks to be 22-year-old midfielder Matheus Nunes.

Matheus enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2020/21 and looks to have already earned himself an expensive transfer, with Everton on the verge of snapping the midfielder up for a cool £15m.

If you don't already know about Matheus, here's your cheat sheet.


1. He's a real box-to-box midfielder

He might be a towering midfielder, but Matheus actually bases his game on Ronaldinho, and you can see that in his dribbling and movement.

"Ronaldinho is my idol," he told Sindicato dos Jugadores. "I've always tried to imitate him since I was a kid, and I've always liked the way he played.

"When he was at Barcelona, I liked Barcelona, When he was at AC Milan, I liked AC Milan, and it was unbelievable when he went to Flamengo because I'm a Flamengo fan. He's my idol because I've always had him as the image of what I wanted to be as a player."

4. He's undecided on his international future

Matheus doesn't score too many goals, but he seems to save them up for the biggest occasions.

In 2020/21, he scored perhaps the two most important goals of the campaign, bagging the winning strikes in top-of-the-table meetings with Benfica and Braga, and he wasn't far off doing the same against Porto either.

Despite his relative inexperience, Matheus seems to love the pressure that comes with those big games, and fans already see him as a clutch performer.

6. His nickname is 'Saint Matheus'