Fabrizio Romano has given Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Manchester United a double boost in their pursuit of Jonathan David, though Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly opened preliminary talks about signing the centre-forward first.
David played in his native Canada and in Belgium before arriving at Lille in August 2020. Since then, the striker has managed to score 84 goals in 183 games, which includes a very impressive 26 strikes in 47 appearances during the recently completed campaign.
David has made a name for himself as one of the deadliest attackers in Ligue 1, and he played an important role in Lille surprisingly beating Paris Saint-Germain to the French title in the 2020-21 season.
David is currently on international duty with Canada. The hitman played a full 90 minutes during his country’s 2-0 defeat to Argentina in their first Copa America group stage match on Friday.
The 24-year-old could end up securing a transfer either while he is in the Canada camp, or soon after he returns. David has been heavily linked with Man Utd, while David Ornstein revealed on Saturday that Chelsea are in discussions to snare him.
In his latest column for the Daily Briefing, Romano has lifted Man Utd’s hopes of winning the race for David by cooling speculation about the forward’s prospective move to Chelsea and revealing there is a very high chance he will swap Lille for a major new club.
Man Utd transfers: Fabrizio Romano issues Jonathan David update
“But at the moment, I’m not hearing anything imminent. I still expect Jonathan David to leave Lille in the summer transfer window.
“He has one year left on his contract and Lille want to make a profit. The player wants to try a different experience, so there is a good opportunity.
“I think a 90 per cent chance to see Jonathan David leaving Lille. But at the moment, I’m not aware of anything advanced club-to-club between Chelsea and Lille.”
Unfortunately for Man Utd, Chelsea are not the only Premier League competitors interested in David. As per fellow reporter Wayne Veysey, Tottenham have made contact with David’s agent to explore a summer deal.
Ange Postecoglou is known to be on the lookout for a new striker who can properly replace Harry Kane, in a move which would allow captain Son Heung-min to play as a left winger more regularly once again.
Lille originally paid Gent £25.5m for David and at one stage his value hit €60million (£51m). But Lille have failed to tie the player down to a new contract, and the fact his current deal expires in June 2025 means he can move for a reduced price this summer.
David’s lower valuation of €40m (£34m) will certainly please his potential suitors Man Utd, Spurs and Chelsea, with a transfer scrap now on the cards.
Incredibly, David could be followed to Man Utd by two other forwards, as per Monday’s Euro Paper Talk.
