FEATURE | Liverpool? Newcastle? Barcelona? Where should Jonathan David go next? | OneFootball

When it comes to buying low, selling high, and churning out a monumental profit on promising young footballers, few teams in France can hold a candle to Lille OSC. Les Dogues signed Nicolas Pépé from Angers in 2017 for €10m, before selling him to Arsenal two years later for €79m. They signed Victor Osimhen from Charleroi in 2019 for €12m plus €3m in bonuses – one year later, they sold him to Napoli for €70m plus €10m in potential add-ons. And yet, for all their meritable achievements in the player trading department, Lille look set to lose one of the most in-form strikers in France for free – Jonathan David.

David became the most expensive Canadian footballer of all time when he left Belgian side Gent and joined Lille for €30m in the summer of 2020. He initially struggled to fill Osimhen’s shoes and failed to score in his first three months at the club, but he eventually settled into his new surroundings and formed a stellar attacking partnership with Burak Yilmaz. David scored 13 Ligue 1 goals in 2020/21, 11 coming after the turn of the year, but none were more important than his goal on April 3rd. The Canadian scored the sole goal of the match at the Parc des Princes and led Lille to their first away win at PSG in 25 years, setting the foundation for Lille to edge Les Parisiens to the title and secure their first championship in a decade.

Since then, David has been able to emerge as an attacking protagonist and one of the most dangerous strikers in France for Lille. He’s racked up 102 goals and 25 assists in 214 appearances and is the third-highest goal scorer in club history after Jean Baratte and Andre Strappe, whilst he’s also the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Canada national team with 31 goals in 59 appearances since making his debut in 2018.

“David is a tremendous player,” stated Steven Caldwell, who worked as an assistant coach for the Canada national team between 2019 and 2021. “He’s a very smart player who understands what’s asked of him defensively, he’s second to none in attack. You don’t have to repeat things to him too often, he gets it quickly.”

“He’s a humble, down-to-earth, hard-working guy,” added Caldwell. “He quietly goes about his business and does his job, he scores a lot of goals, and I think he’s going to keep improving through his mid-thirties. His brain is so smart that I think he’s going to keep improving. It was a pleasure coaching him…he’s going to go somewhere huge this summer.”

With his contract set to expire on June 30th, it’s seemingly only a matter of time before David leaves Lille on a free transfer. The only question is – where?

Liverpool

After spending the past five years developing at a premium feeder club in Lille, David will be looking to make the move to one of Europe’s biggest clubs in the summer of 2025. When it comes to the cream of the crop, David’s pathway to the starting XI would likely be blocked at Manchester City and Real Madrid by Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé, respectively, whilst he’d also find himself in a similar situation at Bayern Munich should he decide to head to Bavaria and compete with Harry Kane.

There is at least one European giant, however, that could offer him consistent minutes: Liverpool. The Reds have ascended to the top of the UEFA Champions League and Premier League table despite lacking a reliable centre forward option. Diogo Jota has failed to shake off his injury-prone label at Anfield, whilst the much-maligned Darwin Nunez has failed to score in 12 of his last 14 appearances for Liverpool. Whereas Nunez was kept under wraps in his most recent match vs. Lille, David fired in the equaliser to take his tally to five Champions League goals in the season. After delivering a perfect audition, he may very well have paved the way for a summer transfer to Merseyside.

Newcastle

At 25 years old, David is still approaching the prime of his career, and yet, he’s already made a name for himself as one of the top finishers in Europe for Lille. He’s already reached double figures for the season with 11 goals in Ligue 1, second only to Mason Greenwood, and he’s bound to have his fair share of suitors this summer. One of them could very well be Newcastle.

David is expected to reject teams that will not be participating in UEFA competitions next season, which could very well rule out teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United from the bidding war. Newcastle, on the other hand, are on track to qualify for European football, and they could be in the market for a replacement for Alexander Isak, who is emerging as one of the hottest names in the transfer market. By selling Isak for an astronomic fee and bringing in David on a free transfer, Newcastle could set themselves in good stead to bolster their squad depth and bring in a number of new players without running afoul of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.

Barcelona

In order to navigate around the club’s precarious financial situation, Barcelona have resorted to signing a number of players on free transfers. Since the start of 2021, they’ve signed Eric García, Sergio Agüero, Memphis Depay, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Franck Kessié, Andreas Christensen, Héctor Bellerín, Marcos Alonso, Iñigo Martínez and İlkay Gündoğan without paying a dime to their previous clubs. They could very well be encouraged to repeat that formula with David this summer.

David grew up supporting Barcelona and admitted in November that it is his dream to play for the Blaugranas, and whilst he might be a bit turned off from their struggles to register Dani Olmo, being able to suit up for the Blaugranas may be too alluring of a possibility to pass up. If he does make the move to Camp Nou, he’ll be competing against Robert Lewandowski for the starting centre forward position. The Polish striker has cooled off after a stellar start to the season and as he approaches 37 years of age, Barcelona may be inclined to shop for a long-term replacement this summer.

It remains to be seen which team David ends up moving to this summer, but one thing is for sure: he’s set to earn a sizeable wage hike and a mouth-watering individual commission with his new club.

GFFN | Zach Lowy