Carrick has the Ferguson magic, says Cunha

"The Champions League without this club is not the same competition, and this club without Champions League is not same club.

"But it is not only the Champions League. We need to fight for the titles. This is the first one [step]. We could come much stronger for next season."

It will be a summer of change at Old Trafford, not least because Cunha's Brazilian international team-mate Casemiro is leaving. Or is he?

Casemiro has said he is and Carrick reinforced the point when he spoke to the media on Friday.

But Cunha knows the 34-year-old well. He is not so sure.

"It's so easy to talk about him," he said. "I know how important he is.

"He's an amazing guy. There is a strong part of him outside the pitch. He's so lovely and so friendly. He teaches me.

"We don't know in the end how it is with his contract. Of course, everyone hopes there's a little bit more. I know it's harder than we talked about, but, in the end, you never know."

Cunha has made the impact United hoped when they paid Wolves £62.5m last summer, when he was a priority target.

With such a huge personality, it was unlikely joining a club of that size would be too much for the 26-year-old.

His goal against Liverpool was his ninth of the season, including some key ones for Carrick, specifically the winners at Arsenal and Chelsea.

It has given Cunha time to show off his familiar surfing celebration, which reached a new level against Liverpool, when he raced away, pursued by team-mates, dived on the ground and then got up to 'surf'.

"I've improved my celebration a little bit," he said.

"Every time, my friends in Brazil every time say, 'you cannot only surf, you have to paddle and stand up on the surfboard'. I said OK, I'll try to improve.

"It's part of my life; to bring this into football and show everyone how happy I am to play football and surf. I have to do it."

Matheus Cunha did his surfing celebration after scoring the opener against Liverpool at Old Trafford [Getty Images]

• Latest Manchester United news, analysis and fan views
• Ask about Man Utd - what do you want to know?