Paris Saint-Germain star Thomas Meunier admits he rejected Aston Villa in 2016 – despite them offering more money

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Aston Villa missed out on Thomas Meunier, according to the PSG defender himself.

Belgium defender Thomas Meunier

Paris Saint-Germain defender Thomas Meunier has told Belgian magazine Sport/Foot that Aston Villa made a move to sign him after Euro 2016.

Belgium managed to make it to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 before losing 3-1 to Wales, a defeat which ultimately cost manager Marc Wilmots his job as Belgium manager.

A whole host of Belgian player earned moves to new clubs after Euro 2016; Christian Kabasele joined Watford, Jordan Lukaku earned a move to Lazio, whilst Michy Batshuayi signed for Chelsea.

Another player to move on was right back Thomas Meunier, who enjoyed something of a breakout tournament for Belgium whilst playing for Club Brugge at club level.

Meunier, now 26, was snapped up by Paris Saint-Germain after impressing for Belgium, and he featured 36 times for PSG in call competitions.

Meunier may now be second choice after PSG snapped up Dani Alves over the summer, but he is still a valued member of Unai Emery’s squad; after all, they did decide to keep Meunier over Spurs new boy Serge Aurier.

Now, Meunier has revealed to Belgian magazine Sport/Foot that he had a host of offers after Euro 2016, with Aston Villa – who had been relegated to the Championship – offering a greater deal financially than PSG.

Wales’ midfielder Joe Ledley (R) challenges Belgium’s defender Thomas Meunier

However, Meunier ended up choosing a move to Paris over a switch to Birmingham, and rather than attempt to get out of the English second tier, he is vying for the Ligue 1 title, challenging for the Champions League and is in line to play at the World Cup next year…so you could say his decision has paid off.

“I received more financially interesting proposals from other clubs, especially from England, but that was not my priority,” said Meunier. “Even Aston Villa, who had gone to the Championship, were more generous than Paris. When my agent told me that the PSG had entered the race, I told him to forget the other offers.”

“I called my mother, my girlfriend, who was 100% with me. It was Paris anyway! This transfer went beyond the purely sporting framework because it was the possibility to settle in a mythical city, with all that that entails,” he added.