You wouldn’t think that Aston Villa would stand a chance in a financial battle with Paris Saint-Germain.
But, apparently, the Championship outfit was more than willing to go toe-to-toe with the deep-pocketed French giants in their attempts to bring in Belgium international Thomas Meunier last summer.
Steve Bruce didn’t exactly splash the cash in the most recent transfer window but he did find some financially savvy ways to bring in several Premier League quality players in the form of John Terry and Glenn Whelan.
Villa’s owners are clearly keen on returning the club to England’s top flight and that was the case a year earlier too when, in a bid to back that ambition up, they attempted to convince Meunier to move to Villa Park from Club Brugge just months after their relegation.
Meunier was offered a huge wage packet to bring his talents to the Midlands but (and this is a bizarre statement) he decided against the better money by moving to Paris Saint-Germain.
“I received more financially interesting proposals from other clubs, especially from England, but that was not my priority,” Meunier told SportFoot.
“Even Aston Villa, who had gone to the Championship, was more generous than the Paris club.
“I called my mother, my girlfriend, who was 100 per-cent 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.”
