More than a year and a half after leaving PSG, Thomas Meunier continues to chart his course with Borussia Dortmund (24 games in all competitions this season). The 30-year-old Belgian full-back does not regret his departure from the capital and he says, for L’Équipe this Saturday, a return to calm after years (2016-2020) of “bling-bling” in Paris.
“I am watching the Netflix documentary on Neymar, he explains. And it’s just all that: Neymar is Paris, Paris is Neymar. It sums up everything that happens at PSG, with the stars, all the influences, the players’ entourage, the management, the supporters. Paris is bling-bling, since its creation moreover, and it has to stay that way. It must make you dream more than anything else”.
The Belgian international, however, believes that a “respected line of conduct” and “that a little more calm and fullness could frankly help”: “There is always something going on and it sometimes serves the club”. Between 2017 and 2020, Meunier played alongside Kylian Mbappé. Since then, he has delivered the assists for the Norwegian Erling Haaland. But can we really compare the two prodigies?
“It’s not the same style at all, cuts the Dortmund player. (…) But technically, I find that Mbappé is above. Haaland, physically, remains a real number 9 (…) he is a pure goalscorer. They are both super good, after Kylian has that extra thing. When you think of Ronaldo the Brazilian, of Thierry Henry, he has this instinct of very great players which could make him a legend of football”.