Van Bommel says Meunier 'to become important again' after Belgium omission | OneFootball

Mark van Bommel has left Sunderland defender Thomas Meunier out of his first Belgium squad, but says the full-back still has a route back.

"I told him that it doesn't end for him. It's just that I am currently choosing other players. Thomas didn't agree with that. 'I'm going to become important again,' he said. That's nice." Van Bommel told Voetbal Primeur.

Meunier has 83 caps and 10 goals for Belgium since his 2013 debut. At 35, he featured three times at this summer's World Cup, where eventual champions Spain ended the Red Devils' run in the quarter-finals.

Since that tournament Belgium have changed head coach, with Van Bommel replacing Rudi Garcia following the exit in North America. Announcing his inaugural squad, he chose to leave Meunier out for now.

Meunier joined Sunderland as a free agent in the summer window and has appeared in all six of the Black Cats' matches across all competitions this season.

Source: Sunderland Echo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”