Meunier leaves Lille and takes charge of his own future
Thomas Meunier will not be a Lille player next season. According to Fabrizio Romano, the 34-year-old Belgian right-back is set to leave at the end of his contract, with no extension agreed. The informal talks never led anywhere concrete, and he will be free to sign wherever he likes from July 1. Two seasons in the Lille shirt, and that is that.
The biggest surprise here is the way Meunier is handling the next move. The Belgium international has decided to run the negotiations himself, with no agent and no middleman. It is a deliberate choice, made to keep full control over the terms of his next deal. Back in March, he had already set the tone while on Belgium duty. “There are several players out of contract and nobody has renewed. We had some informal talks, but it stayed pretty vague. I am not worried. I am an adventurer, and I do not mind looking elsewhere.”
Meunier has also been named in Belgium’s squad for the 2026 World Cup. So he will have to juggle tournament preparation with talks over his next club. It is a tightrope act, but one that suits him down to the ground.
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Back to Belgium, and maybe a new role
As for where he ends up, Meunier is keeping his options open. A return to Belgium is not off the table, whether that is Club Brugge, where he came through, or somewhere else in the top flight. “It depends on the opportunities, there are contacts, clubs are calling,” he said in March. Nothing concrete yet, but there are leads.
The real twist is elsewhere. Meunier has publicly floated the idea of finishing his career as a centre-forward. He started out in an attacking role before becoming one of the most recognisable right-backs in European football, and he has not forgotten his first love. “It is tempting because all my life I have been used to being attacking, scoring goals, setting up assists, dribbling. And now I cannot even do a step-over, because if I lose the ball, they are straight in behind and that is it,” he said after a Ligue 1 match against Paris FC.
At 34, Meunier has no plans to hang up his boots any time soon. He wants one last challenge, on his terms, at a club that might even let him finish his career in a different position. One last switch on the pitch, before the next one comes later.
Credit: Matthieu Mirville / AFP
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