Yahoo News Aston Villa transfer target set for summer move with year remaining on contract
Jonathan David finally appears set to leave Lille this summer - and Aston Villa could take advantage of his contract status to sign the striker in a value-for-money deal. David, the Canadian international, has only a single year remaining on his deal with LOSC and he is likely to depart in order to ensure the Ligue 1 club receive a fee rather than risk losing him for nothing next summer, according to journalist Nicolò Schira.
David, 24, has scored 24 goals and returned eight assists in 44 appearances for Lille this term - similar numbers to the figures boasted by Villa's own Ollie Watkins - and scored in the Europa Conference League quarter-final shoot-out in France, which Villa prevailed in. Having been able to take a close up look at him in person, Unai Emery has now been tipped to sanction a move for David this summer.
Villa have leaned heavily on Watkins to lead the line this term. He has done so with gusto, but with Villa likely partaking in the Champions League next year - and if not, then certainly the Europa League - recruitment to improve the squad, within their financial limitations, will be necessary this summer. David could be an affordable option should they seek to introduce added competition for Watkins' place.
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It would appear as though that David's time in Lille - where he has scored 82 goals in 180 appearances since his arrival from Gent in the summer of 2020 - might be coming to an end, some 18 months after manager Paulo Fonseca admitted that the club would find it a challenge to to hold onto their talisman.
“It will be difficult to keep Jonathan David at the club next season,” Fonseca said of David in December 2022. “There are not many strikers with his skills and numbers in Europe. He’s just 22. I think top European clubs will try to sign Jonathan David.”
