Thomas Meunier


Thomas André A. Meunier is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Ligue 1 club Lille and the Belgium national team.

Club career

Virton

Born in Sainte-Ode, Belgium, Meunier began playing for various youth teams, starting with RUS Saint-Ode, RUS Givry and Standard Liège. He spent two seasons with Liège before being released due to injuries. Meunier revealed that his release affected him and at one point he considered quitting football before being persuaded by his mother to continue. During a trial at Virton, Meunier impressed the club's management and was subsequently signed by the club.
Meunier started to play professionally for Virton's first team in the first half of 2009, making his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against K.F.C. V.W. Hamme on 31 January 2009. He went on to make five appearances, as Virton were relegated from the Second Division.
After becoming a first team regular in the 2009–10 season, making 16 appearances and scoring 5 times in all competitions, the 2010–11 season proved to be his breakthrough. His first goal of the 2010–11 season came on 22 August 2010 when he scored in a 3–0 win over C.S. Visé. He then scored twice on 2 October 2010, in a 4–0 win over RFC Liège, followed up by scoring another brace seven days later on 9 October 2010, in a 2–1 win over Sporting Hasselt. He then scored two goals in two matches between 30 January 2011 and 6 February 2011 against R. Charleroi Couillet Fleurus and KSKL Ternat. Throughout the 2010–11 season, Meunier quickly made an impression for the side, as he made 29 appearances and scoring 11 times in all competitions. From 2009 to 2011, Meunier made 52 appearances and scored 15 goals in all competitions for Virton's first team.

Club Brugge

Meunier was signed by Club Brugge in January 2011 for a transfer fee of 200,000 euros, with the actual transfer to be completed during the 2011 summer transfer window. A few days earlier, Club Brugge had just missed out on the transfers of Dalibor Veselinović and Jelle Van Damme and therefore wanted to make sure Meunier would not become the third near miss. Club Brugge managed to complete the deal before any of the several other interested Belgian clubs could.
Ahead of the new season, Meunier was given the number 19 shirt. On 31 July 2011, Club Brugge played its first match of the 2011–12 season against Westerlo in which Meunier was allowed to play the final 20 minutes. Meunier played a decent match, getting on the score sheet in the process. It wasn't until on 21 September 2011 when he scored again, in a 3–2 win over Dessel Sport. He then scored three goals in five appearances in all competitions between 16 October 2011 and 3 November 2011 against Gent, Genk and Birmingham City. Since making his debut for Club Brugge, Meunier established himself in the first team, playing in the midfield position. As a result, he signed a contract extension, to keep him at the club until 2016. Despite injuries, Meunier finished his first season at Club Brugge, making 49 appearances and scoring 5 times in all competitions. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Meunier's goal against Genk earned him third place for Goal of the Season.
At the start of the 2012–13 season, Meunier started the season well when he scored in the first four league matches against Waasland-Beveren, Charleroi, KV Mechelen and Beerschot. After the match, Meunier talked about scoring regularly, saying "Last season I scored three times. My ambition was to do better. But this is very close." He started out playing in the right–wing position. However, Meunier suffered injuries on two occasions that kept him out until November. He didn't return until 17 November 2012, coming on as a second–half substitute, in a 6–2 win over Waasland-Beveren. After returning, Meunier began playing in the right–back position, which he said was no problem. Around late–January, he suffered an injury once again and was sidelined until March. After returning to the first from injury, Meunier regained his first team place, where he played in the right–back position for the rest of the season. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Meunier went on to make 28 appearances and scoring 4 times in all competitions.
At the start of the 2013–14 season, Meunier was sidelined until September, after an operation on a groin injury. Since returning from injury, Meunier quickly returned to the first team, regaining his right–back position and helped the side keep a clean sheet four times between 14 September 2013 and 5 October 2013. His performance attracted attention from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg but stayed at the club throughout the January transfer window. It wasn't until on 18 February 2014 when he scored his first goal for the club, in a 5–2 win over OH Leuven. He then scored twice on 16 March 2014, in a 2–0 win over Cercle Brugge. In a 1–0 loss against Anderlecht on 4 May 2014, Meunier scored an own goal, which saw them lose and costing the club their title chances. Despite being sidelined later in the 2013–14 season, Meunier made 33 appearances and scored three times in all competitions. He also received a Blue Shoe two months later.
In the 2014–15 season, Meunier started the season well when he set up one of the goals, in a 2–0 win over Waasland-Beveren. From the start of the season, Meunier appeared in every match in the right–back position until he suffered an injury in early–December. On 22 November 2014, Meunier scored his first goal of the season, in a 4–2 win over Waasland-Beveren. After returning from injury, he scored again on 14 December 2014, in a 3–1 win over Standard Liège. In January 2015, Meunier signed a new contract with the club, keeping him until 2019. Shortly after, on 20 January 2015, he produced a hat–trick of assists, in a 3–2 win over KV Mechelen to send them through to the semi final of Beker van België. Meunier suffered two injuries towards the end of the season. Nevertheless, he played every minute of the 2015 Belgian Cup Final against rivals RSC Anderlecht, which ended in a 2–1 win for Club Brugge which enabled the club to win its first Belgian Cup since 2007. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Meunier made 46 appearances and scored two times in all competitions. For his performance, Meunier was awarded Footballer of the Year.
Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Meunier was linked with a move away from Club Brugge and was expected to leave the club in the summer. However, he suffered a knee injury whilst on international duty and was out for two months. It wasn't until on 30 August 2015 when he returned to the first team from injury, coming on as a late substitute, in a 7–1 win over Standard Liège. He then scored his first goal of the season on 23 September 2015, as well as, setting up a goal, in a 4–0 win over Patro Eisden. A week later, on 1 October 2015, Meunier scored again in a UEFA Europa League match, in a 3–1 loss against Midtjylland. Then, on 5 November 2015, he scored in the UEFA Europa League campaign once again, in a 1–0 win over Legia Warsaw. He captained Club Brugge for the first time when he led a 4–1 win over KV Mechelen on 30 November 2015. He then set up two goals in a 6–0 win over Westerlo, followed up by scoring again, in a 3–2 loss against Genk. He went on to score two more goals against Genk and Gent towards the end of the season and helped the club win the league. Despite being sidelined on two occasions later in the 2015–16 season, Meunier went on to make 42 appearances and scored six times.
Over the 2016 summer transfer window, Meunier was a transfer target for several clubs, with Paris Saint-Germain leading the chase to sign him. But in early June, he made it clear that he was going to stay at the club. Despite his claim that he intended to stay at Club Brugge, he continued to be a transfer target.
When Meunier joined Club Brugge in 2011, he initially played as a striker or right winger before he was transformed into a right back by head coaches Juan Carlos Garrido, Georges Leekens and Michel Preud'homme due to the lack of players playing in that position because of injuries sustained by his teammates Davy De Fauw and Tom Høgli, and the departure of Carl Hoefkens.

Paris Saint-Germain

On 3 July 2016, Paris Saint-Germain announced that Meunier had just joined PSG on a four-year deal that would tie him to the club until 30 June 2020. The transfer fee was reported to be 7 million euros. Prior to the move, Meunier admitted to having doubts about moving to PSG, citing a possible lack of playing time there.
In the 2016 International Champions Cup friendly match against Real Madrid in Ohio, Meunier scored twice to help PSG to a 3–1 win.

2016–17 season

On 6 August 2016, Meunier made his first competitive appearance for PSG by coming on as a substitute for David Luiz in the 76th minute of the 2016 Trophée des Champions. After being an unused substitute for PSG's first two league matches of the 2016–17 season, he made his league debut for the club and played 28 minutes in a 3–1 loss against AS Monaco on 28 August 2016. Meunier found himself competing with Serge Aurier throughout the season and due to good performances by Aurier, Meunier often appeared on the substitute's bench.
After suffering a knee injury in late September, Meunier returned to the first team, starting in the right back position and scoring a goal, in a 2–0 league home win over Bordeaux on 1 October 2016. On 1 November 2016, Meunier assisted Blaise Matuidi's opening goal and scored the winning goal with a stunning 90th-minute side-footed curling volley in PSG's 2–1 away win over Basel in a 2016–17 UEFA Champions League Group A match; it was Meunier's first competitive goal for PSG. As a result of his good performance, he was named a member of the UEFA Team of the Week.
On 21 December 2016, Meunier scored his first league goal for the club, in a 5–0 win over Lorient. However, the next two months saw him sidelined with injuries on two occasions. Despite this, Meunier received more playing time throughout January 2017 as a right–back because Aurier had to play for his national team in the finals of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The following month, he played the whole 90 minutes and set up a goal for Edinson Cavani, in a 4–0 win over Barcelona in the last 16 first leg of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League. "We played the perfect match. Everyone was really looking forward to it, I have not seen that this season," he said right after that match. However, Meunier conceded a penalty and PSG lost 6–1 to Barcelona in the second leg; PSG were thus eliminated from the competition 6–5 on aggregate. "This is unacceptable. We had to start the game in a calmer way. That is what PSG lacks a bit. Finding an explanation is difficult," Meunier said.
Towards the end of the 2016–17 season, Meunier continued to compete for a first team place with Aurier. He suffered further injuries. Although he featured in both the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France campaigns, Meunier did not play in both of the finals; he was on the substitute bench for the former and missed the latter because of an injury sustained. During the 2016–17 season, he made 36 appearances and scored twice in all competitions.