Belgium international Thomas Meunier has arrived in the North East and is set to become Sunderland’s first signing of the summer transfer window.
Although there have been links with several players in recent weeks and months, Sunderland are yet to add to the squad that will compete in the Europa League this season - but that all looks set to change over the next 48 hours after The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported the former PSG and Borussia Dortmund wing-back is set to put pen-to-paper on a two-year deal at the Stadium of Light. But what do we know of Meunier as he prepares to join Regis Le Bris’ squad?
Where has Thomas Meunier played during his career?
After coming through the youth system at Standard Liege, Meunier kickstarted his career during a two-year stay with Royal Excelsior Virton. After making a handful of first-team appearances, the defender was quickly snapped up by Jupiler League giants Club Brugge and he made almost 200 appearances and became a Belgian League and Cup winner during his time at the Jan Breydel Stadium. Further honours came following a move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2016 as Meunier became a consistent presence in their side over the following four years. He racked up three Ligue 1 titles, two Coupe de France final wins, three Coupe de la Ligue final wins and three Trophee des Champions wins. In recent seasons, Meunier has played for Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, Turkish side Trabzonspor and French club Lille.
What has Thomas Meunier achieved at international level with Belgium?
Belgium's defender Thomas Meunier celebrates scoring.placeholder image
Belgium's defender Thomas Meunier celebrates scoring. | AFP via Getty Images
Meunier earned his first senior cap for Belgium in a 3-1 friendly win against Colombia in November 2013 but missed out on a place in their World Cup finals squad during the following year. However, the defender has represented the Red Devils at the 2018, 2022 and 2026 World Cup finals, making three appearances at the latter before his side suffered a 2-1 defeat against Spain in a quarter-final meeting last week. In total, Meunier has 83 senior caps to his name and has scored ten goals, with the last coming in a 4-2 World Cup qualifier against Wales in October last year. He was part of the Belgium side that earned a fourth place finish at the 2018 World Cup and was named alongside the likes of Marca World Cup all-star team at the same tournament.
Have Sunderland been linked with Thomas Meunier in the past?
Yes - although you have to go back a decade to previous links with the Belgium international. Back then, Meunier admitted he had interest from the Black Cats as he was preparing to leave Club Brugge. He said: “The decision will be announced on Saturday. I haven’t made my final choice yet. There are seven interested clubs, including Torino, Napoli, Sunderland, West Ham and PSG. There’s a 30 percent chance I’ll join PSG. But I also have to consider the sporting aspect. What’s the point of going to a big club if you’re just going to sit on the bench?”
He did join Paris Saint-Germain and went on to make 128 appearances for the Ligue 1 champions and 105 of them came as part of their starting eleven.
What has Thomas Meunier said about Sunderland?
In a post shared by The Echo’s James Copley and Phil Smith on Tuesday morning, Meunier mentioned the Black Cats in a hilarious social media post in March 2019 when he asked for his followers to share a link for a stream of Sunderland’s Papa Johns Trophy final meeting with then-League One rivals Portsmouth.
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