" Are you coming for vacation? David and Jonathan once sang. Expected this Tuesday in Lille, Jonathan David, the reversed namesake of the famous duo of the song, responded favorably and actually arrives at Losc in the summer. Coming from Belgian club La Gantoise, vice-champion of Belgium, the young Canadian striker, 20, has signed up with the Mastiffs for the next five seasons for a sum of 27 million euros - the Belgian club will receive 3 millions of euros additional to the resale of the player, if this is profitable.
This is the biggest acquisition ever made by Losc, the previous one corresponding to the purchase of Renato Sanches from Bayern Munich, against 20 million euros last summer. For the Belgian championship, it is about the biggest transfer in its history. Despite his young age, David, center forward or attacking midfielder, finished top scorer in the Jupiler Pro League, Belgian Ligue 1, with 18 goals in 27 games, as well as 8 assists - Dieumerci Mbokani (Antwerp) a also finished with 18 goals but in 28 games.
Including the Europa League, the Canadian has totaled 40 goals this season, including two scored during the success over Saint-Etienne (3-2) in the group stage at the Artevelde stadium last September.
Jonathan David wonder-goal voted Canada Soccer's 2019 Plays of the Year winner
STORY đ https://t.co/9XJDNWA9YU#CANMNT pic.twitter.com/R3M5nauYcI
David was born in New York, in the Brooklyn neighborhood, into a family from Haiti. However, the latter quickly settled in Canada, in the city of Ottawa (Ontario) where Jonathan grew up and trained in various clubs in the Canadian capital, located not far from Montreal and the border of the United States. United.
The heavy burden of replacing Victor Osimhen
Supported from the age of 16 by his agent, Nick Mavromara, the teenager tried tests in Europe, at RB Salzburg and in Stuttgart, without success. Then, on the basis of videos sent to a scout from La Gantoise, the Belgian club tested and hired David in January 2018. In September of the same year, the striker was called up for selection and now has 11 goals in 12 games with Canada.
Last winter, the young man had the pain of prematurely losing his mother, Rose Grethelle. While returning urgently to Canada at her bedside, David learned of his mother's death during the stopover in London. Scrutinized for a time by Olympique Lyonnais during the winter transfer window, David will be associated in Lille with Burak Yilmaz, the Turkish veteran, 35, from Besiktas Istanbul.
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Both will have the heavy burden of replacing Victor Osimhen (13 goals), whose transfer to Naples allowed Losc to bail out considerably this summer (81 million euros), and thus to be able to afford David.