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Thomas Meunier during a test match in the summer

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David Inderlied / Kirchner Media / IMAGO

Thomas Meunier and Borussia Dortmund are going their separate ways. As the Bundesliga club announced on Wednesday, the 32-year-old Belgian international signed with Turkish first division club Trapzonspor. »This week there was a short-term opportunity for Thomas to join a new club before the end of the transfer period. We complied with his request for this change," said BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl.

Unlike in Germany, the change period in Turkey does not end on February 1st, but rather on February 9th. With the free transfer, BVB saves high salary costs for the reservist. Meunier's contract with BVB ran until the summer and he was one of the top earners in the squad. His annual salary is said to have been between eight and ten million euros.

Most recently, the 32-year-old was regularly in coach Edin Terzić's starting line-up due to the failures of various key players, but he was rarely convincing. Last Friday he showed a poor performance in the 0-0 draw against Heidenheim.

Only 86 games for BVB

If all players are fit, Meunier was not one of the regular players. He was not nominated for the current Champions League squad and has only made 86 competitive appearances since his free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2020. This week, full-back Julian Reyerson returned to training after suffering a medial knee ligament injury in early December. The Norwegian would probably have pushed Meunier onto the bench again. Now Terzić has to decide who will take over at right-back on Friday against SC Freiburg; the game could come too early for Ryerson.

Meunier was already considered a candidate for sale last summer, but the planned change of full-back did not materialize due to a serious muscle injury.

Now Meunier is leaving and wants to make a name for himself for the European Championships in Germany in the summer with regular appearances. So far, Meunier has played 62 international matches for Belgium, scoring eight goals. The last time he played for Belgium was in December 2022 at the World Cup in Qatar.

kjo/sid/dpa