Sunderland made Thomas Meunier their first signing of the summer transfer window last week

Régis Le Bris says Thomas Meunier can be an important part of Sunderland's squad this season following his arrival as a free agent last week.

Meunier signed a two-year contract to become the club's first summer signing, and is now on a break following his World Cup commitments with Belgium. Le Bris all but confirmed that the deal meant the end of the club's pursuit of popular loanee Lutsharel Geertruida. Sunderland opted not to trigger the near £20 million option to sign Geertruida permanently at the end of last season and though they continued discussions, Meunier's availability was seen as the best option.

The Black Cats can now invest in priority positions between now and the end of the window and Le Bris believes Meunier can replicate Geertruida's valuable versatility last season.

"We'll have more games this season, first of all," Le Bris said.

"Last season we worked on this right side with different profiles; Lucha was one of these profiles. We had to decide this summer about the full package because we like the player but it's not only about technical football qualities, it's a full package.

"We had an opportunity with Thomas, which is more or less the same profile. He can play inside as a third centre-back, probably. He can play as a full back, he can play as a wing-back.

"So we'll have this ability to manage different positions and different roles on the right side."

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Meunier will bring valuable experience to a still very young Sunderland squad, but Le Bris said the 34-year-old's fitness and ability to impact games at a high level is key to his arrival just as it was with players like Granit Xhaka last season.

"I think last season we had this good mix between young players and experienced players and it's still important to keep the balance," Le Bris said.

"But also, I think experienced players were ready to play, because they were fit and had good energy. So, you can be experienced, but also ready to push hard. He's a really experienced, good player, but still fit. So, it allows us to have a bit more depth, and also to give competition in this position, which will be interesting."

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