Sunderland have announced the signing of free agent Thomas Meunier following his exit from Lille, seemingly putting to bed the possibility of Lutsharel Geertruida returning after his loan from RB Leipzig last season.
On Wednesday, Sunderland officially announced the signing of free agent Thomas Meunier, with the Belgian international putting pen to paper for two years at the Stadium of Light following his exit from Lille at the end of the season.
Reports emerged the day prior that Meunier was set to sign for Sunderland, and the former Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund defender will bring a wealth of experience to the Black Cats squad as the 34-year-old enters the swansong of his impressive career.
The signing of the 83-capped Belgian international, who featured heavily for his national side at the World Cup before their quarter-final defeat to now-finalists Spain, came as a pleasant surprise among the Sunderland faithful considering that there were no links suggesting that the Black Cats had interest in Meunier.
More so than Meunier, the expectation from many Black Cats fans was to see last season's RB Leipzig loanee Lutsharel Geertruida return to Sunderland permanently this summer after his season-long stint, considering that the two versatile defenders share similar profiles and attributues.
However, with the signing of free agent Meunier, Sunderland would have appeared to put to bed the potential of signing Geertruida this summer after discussions with him coming this summer, with the Black Cats making a bold but clever transfer play.
Thomas Meunier for Belgium at the World Cup (Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters)Why Sunderland Signed Thomas Meunier over Lutsharel Geertruida
First of all, when it comes to the transfer, the financial aspect is the most striking element.
Sunderland have signed a player well-versed in the Champions League, and both the elite level of European football and international competitions for a free transfer, which is unequivocally clever business.
RB Leipzig would have commanded a fee around the £20m mark to let Geertruida depart the German giants, meaning that the Black Cats have saved a sizeable chunk of their transfer kitty to re-invest in other areas.
If recent transfer reports are anything to go by, one of these positions in Regis Le Bris' squad would seemingly be at right-wing, with Sunderland and Fulham fighting to sign Roma winger Matias Soule.
Away from the financial aspect, although Meunier may not be as versatile as Geertruida in terms of the number of positions that he is comfortable in, he as a trademark right-back with proven attacking ability to coincide with his defensive experience, would enable other members of Le Bris' squad to feature in other roles.
For instance, Meunier's arrival would allow Nordi Mukiele to continue his run at centre-back rather than right-back, where the Frenchman shone last season for Sunderland, highlighted by his mammoth performance at the heart of defence against Chelsea on the final day.
Moreover, Meunier offers direct cover and competition for full-back Trai Hume, and allows the Northern Ireland star to switch to left-back if needed by the Sunderland boss, where he has proven more than capable as a deputy in the event of Reinildo's injury.
Finally, another positive attribute that Meunier has over Geertruida is his attacking flair.
| Key statistic | Thomas Meunier in 25/26 for Lille | Lustsharel Geertruida in 25/26 for Sunderland |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 35 | 30 |
| Goals + Assists | 1/3 | 0/0 |
With the Belgian more technically gifted from an attacking sense than last season's loanee, this could be potentially pivotal as the Black Cats will want to impose their goalscoring prowess more on teams next season than they did last term.
Perhaps, with Geertruida being more of a jack-of-all trades rather than a master of one, Sunderland have secured the services of Meunier because of his quality in one position, which is a sensible trade-off to make to save £20m in the process.
