​Love it, and not just because he was a FIFA star for me six years ago.More offensively skilled than Trai Hume without being a defensive liability, he provides depth and tactical flexibility to Régis Le Bris at a good price.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFor me, though, the most important cascading affect is this potentially moves Nordi Mukiele centrally more consistently. He was certainly our best right back last year but the last couple of games reinforced to me that he is definitely our best centre back.With one player, Sunderland has strengthened two positions and I’d love for Florent Ghisolfi to do something similar on the left. Sign a young, starting left back with Reinildo the ‘depth option’ at left back and left centre back.Meunier has reached the pinnacles of European football throughout his career, playing ninety one European games and featuring for some of Europe’s biggest teams in PSG and Borussia Dortmund.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWe saw last season how important some experience can be with Granit Xhaka.Meunier will undoubtedly help add European experience and leadership to the Sunderland backline while also being a more than viable option at right back for the endeavours we face in the upcoming season.The signing of Meunier would tick a lot of boxes for us, being a vastly experienced defender with over eighty caps for Belgium and bags of pedigree at club level — both domestically and in European competitions.It’s very much a Sunderland signing of the times and one that although maybe not to be filed under “hold the front page”, has the potential to give us something we most certainly need next season: experience.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAfter a landmark 2025/2026 season, Sunderland are sailing into uncharted waters for 2026/2027, having to balance the trials and tribulations of a domestic schedule and our first ever Europa League campaign.Although tremendously exciting for everyone, it’ll also place extra demands on the squad. It’ll also require the capacity to rotate the starting eleven when necessary and to be able to call on players with big-game nous — something a fully fit Meunier can add in spades.I also think this transfer shines a light on Florent Ghisolfi’s approach when it comes to strengthening the squad — specifically his focus on recruiting players that can add genuine value to what’s already a very good group and not spending merely for the sake of spending.As we saw with Reinildo during 2025/2026, smart use of the free agent market can pay off handsomely if you judge it well. As fans, we often dream of the big-money deals and the marquee signings, but they’ve clearly seen attributes in Meunier that can be of benefit to us and hopefully he’ll be eager to get stuck in and show what he can do.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn terms of the role he might play on the pitch, it could be as a calming presence during the final twenty minutes of a tricky