Striker Newcastle and Tottenham want likened to Erling Haaland after 101 goals in 206 games
12/10/2024 02:15 PM
Even for clubs as storied as Premier League trio Arsenal, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, it is not every day a player breaks the 100-goal bracket.
Across the Premier League era, only two Arsenal players have ever reached a century of goals in that famous red and white kit. And there are no prizes for guessing who; Thierry Henry and Ian Wright, of course.
Newcastle have only one, albeit the most prolific of them all in Alan Shearer.
Shearer’s closest rival – Harry Kane – makes up 50 per cent of Spurs, 100-club members alongside Heung-Min Son. And while Chelsea may have picked up five league titles this side of the Century, only Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba make that exclusive club themselves.
So, as Jonathan David fired in his 100th and latterly 101st Lille goals with a brace in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Stade Brest, that was testament not only to the Canada international’s impressive consistency, but also how lucky Lille have been to hang onto him for as long as they have.
Though, with David’s contract expiring next summer, that luck may be about to run out.
TBR understands that Tottenham have held talks with David and Lille team-mate Angel Gomes. The former Manchester United youngster – now a regular in the senior England squad – will also become a free-agent in eight months’ time.
Both Chelsea and Newcastle watched David score for Lille against Lyon in November.
The Gunners have been linked since his formative days in Belgium with KAA Gent, meanwhile.
And with Arsenal in the market for a striker heading into 2025, David reportedly joined the likes of Dusan Vlahovic, Alexander Isak, Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres on Mikel Arteta’s wishlist.
Tottenham and Newcastle target Jonathan David breaks 100-goal barrier at Lille
In an age where ‘B-list’ clubs such as Lille tend to lose their star players to the lure of money and fame elsewhere, the fact that David has stuck around long enough to hit the 100-goal mark makes the Brooklyn-born poacher a certainty to go down in LOSC folklore, even if his departure as a free-agent may leave a sour taste in the mouths of some.
“We are [taking] about a player who has 101 goals in 206 matches,” reporter Elton Mokolo tells Winamax FC, David replacing and eventually exceeding the standards Victor Osimhen set at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.
“As soon as he arrived, there were a lot of hopes based on him because he was the replacement for Victor Osimhen. It is one of the most successful LOSC transfers of the last ten years. He will leave for free, but his contribution to the recent history of LOSC is incredible.”
Jonathan David likened to Manchester City’s Erling Haaland
It is easy to forget, given how long he has led the line at Lille, that Jonathan David is still only 24 years of age.
Given how much time he has left at the top level, given his free-agent status, and his record of a goal-every-other-game for a French side not named Paris Saint-Germain, David is shaping up to be one of the bargain buys of 2025.
“For me, he is ready for the next step,” Mokolo adds, feeling that only Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland can hold a candle to David in terms of strikers in his age group. “He is 24 years old, he is a player who is destined to progress.
“Against Brest, his work without the ball was enormous. With the ball, he is not Karim Benzema. There is always room for improvement, but he is a useful player.
“But, [amongst strikers born in the year 2000], players who have this performance do not exist except Erling Haaland.”
David currently sits joint-third behind Haaland in the Champions League goalscoring charts. Lille’s number nine scored a famous winner against Real Madrid, fired home a brace in a 3-1 win at Atletico, and levelled the scores versus Juventus in Turin.
You can add ‘man for the big occasion’ to his lengthy list of attributes.
