After many weeks of speculation, Jonathan David finally got his move to Lille, where he will have the task of filling the gap left by Victor Osimhen’s sale to Napoli.
Prolific in front of goal in the Jupiler Pro League, the Canada international was also a target for a number of clubs in the Premier League, including newly promoted Leeds United.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side heavily relied on Patrick Bamford last season for their goals, and with England’s top tier that much harder, a new striker is wanted this summer at Elland Road.
It was KAA Gent themselves who announced that Leeds had made an offer for David, and yet the player had it in his mind that he wanted to go to Lille, seeing it as the ideal next step at this point in this career.
With the move now official, the young forward has started doing his media duties, sitting down with France Bleu Nord on Thursday, who asked him why he chose the Ligue 1 side over a move to the Premier League, specifically mentioning Bielsa’s club.
He replied: “Everyone knows the Premier League is a league of great quality, but my choice was made based on the fact I wanted to be sure to play”.
He also added: “I really liked the project Luis Campos and the club’s board sold me. It’s really what encouraged me to join LOSC. Basically, I really wanted to go to a club where I knew I would continue to play to become better. Plus, at Lille, there’s a really good team with really good players and a good group”.
Whether that’s a sly dig at Leeds, we don’t know, but it could be he didn’t want to be potentially fighting against relegation, which is always what people think when a team has just be promoted.
That’s not to say the Elland Road club will be, but there’s no guarantees they will take to top flight football as well as some of their predecessors, likes Wolves.
Either way, if any Leeds fans were wondering why David chose Lille over a move to Yorkshire, now you know.
