Thomas Meunier has built a career at clubs such as Club Brugge, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Lille and now Sunderland, but football was never his only passion. Growing up in the Belgian Ardennes, Meunier was introduced to drawing and painting by his grandmother. He later studied art at school and has admitted that, for a while, he even imagined becoming a cartoon artist rather than a professional footballer.
His taste goes far beyond the occasional museum visit. Meunier has spoken enthusiastically about Picasso, Rubens, Kandinsky and especially Salvador Dalí. Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory was once the image on his phone and he described the famous surrealist painting as a personal favourite. During his years at Club Brugge, he would spend free afternoons visiting exhibitions and museums rather than simply switching off from football.
Meunier also continued creating art himself. He has spoken about drawing and painting as a way to clear his head, preferring the old-fashioned feel of pencil and paper. Eventually, his two worlds came together through Play It Art, a project he launched with his agent to connect emerging artists with football and sport. That initiative even resulted in a “When Art Meets Football” exhibition at Anderlecht’s Constant Vanden Stock Stadium.
It makes Meunier a rather unusual figure in modern football. Now playing in the Premier League with Sunderland, the Belgian defender has travelled through some of Europe’s biggest football cities, yet his curiosity away from the pitch has remained part of his identity throughout. For Meunier, creativity has never stopped at the touchline: sometimes it comes with a football at his feet, sometimes with a pencil in his hand.