From bakery worker to Guardiola favourite: Matheus Nunes' unlikely road to Man City

Matheus Nunes will carry a personal edge into Manchester City’s clash with Sunderland this weekend, with the Portuguese international’s stepdad among the season-ticket holders at the Stadium of Light. “When I have an argument with my father, I can go to the game and p*** him off,” Nunes said earlier this summer.

The detail sits oddly alongside the biography of a Brazilian-born Portugal international, yet very little about Nunes’ journey to the top of the game has followed a conventional path. Growing up in difficult circumstances — he recalled hiding in his house at the age of six as armed thieves fled police — his family eventually relocated to Portugal when he was 13, offering a more stable footing.

Even then, football offered no easy route. Nunes spent part of his late teens working in a bakery after a string of unsuccessful trials at clubs across Europe. It was not until he was 20 that Estoril offered him a contract, and a strong showing against Sporting in a club fixture earned him a move to the Lisbon giants shortly afterwards.

Pep Guardiola publicly declared him one of the best players in the world following a Champions League match in 2022, and Wolves subsequently made him their record signing. City came calling in 2023 — Nunes was not the primary midfield target, but complications with higher-priority options opened the door. A standout performance at Old Trafford early that season caught the eye of City’s staff and Treble squad members, and the club moved. The transfer required Nunes to push for a move at Wolves, and he has been loudly booed on every return to Molineux since.

His early months at City were difficult. Guardiola quickly concluded that Nunes was not suited to a midfield role, and he was barely used in his first season. The following campaign brought a positional shift — first to left wing, then to right-back — and an immediate low point: a costly error in the Manchester derby that handed Ruben Amorim’s United the win.

Few expected Nunes to recover his standing at the club, but he did. Multiple conversations with friends and his psychologist helped him come to terms with the new role. “I would tell my friends all the time, ‘I’m not a full-back, I’m not a full-back’,” he admitted. Gradually, his resistance gave way to acceptance and then genuine enthusiasm, and he grew into the position as last season progressed.

Now, with a Sunderland-supporting family in the away end and a point to prove, Nunes arrives at this weekend’s fixture with motivations that go well beyond the three points.