Jonathan David

[CANMNT_SUPERFAN]

Couldn't agree more!!!!... Lille should be a good step up for him and can see him not staying there long-term, should his form in Gent translate into Lille!!!!... Great springboard, to a big club in one of the big leagues should this happen and more suitable perhaps, as he will go one step at a time as everyone around him and fans are advocating!... Mind you, from my own selfish perspective ,was hoping that one of the big name clubs rumoured to sign him, would get him, but at the same time I do not want him to get into an environment that will sabotage his development  as this guy needs continued playing time to prove his worth and scoring prowess.. He is ready for the next step and look forward as everyone to follow him along in his next journey!!!!... Who knows, maybe down the road he settles in Ligue 1 and PSG come knocking once some of their forwards , excluding Mbapé maybe(unless he moves to like Real or Barcelona) get up in age and need a replacement!!!.. That still would be awesome!!!!... Eagerly waiting what happens in the few weeks or even days! 😉

Edited July 4, 2020 by CANMNT_SUPERFAN

[Unnamed Trialist]

19 hours ago, bwilly11 said:

Lille rumours seem strange to me. Just as strange as Arsenal. David has been pretty vocal on numerous occasions about wanting a move to Germany. I suppose it comes down to who will pay Gent the most though.

I feel like David will get the German move he wanted in the end, maybe he stays at Gent until it comes to fruition. What do I know though..

I hope it goes this way too. If he's good in France he's still untested in a top league. If he's simply competent at his age in Germany with mostly positives then he's set. 

[baulderdash77]

7 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I hope it goes this way too. If he's good in France he's still untested in a top league. If he's simply competent at his age in Germany with mostly positives then he's set. 

If he’s good on a top 5 team in the Ligue1 he’s not considered untested at a high level anymore.  If he can score 15+ goals for Lille then he’s getting transferred for a lot more than 30€ million to top Champions League teams.

[Strait Red]

From Manuel Veth on Twitter.

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

5 hours ago, baulderdash77 said:

If he’s good on a top 5 team in the Ligue1 he’s not considered untested at a high level anymore.  If he can score 15+ goals for Lille then he’s getting transferred for a lot more than 30€ million to top Champions League teams.

From a La Liga perspective, and I would say from the other 3 top leagues, a good player in France is untested still. Flat out. Except the very top at PSG at this time. Every player signed from France is always on trial still, and many who end up being quite good need a transition period. I would say this is the same for EPL and Bundesliga. 

I am speaking from experience of a few dozen signings from France I have seen up close at FC Barcelona and other clubs.

The only thing that David has in his favour, that would justify a risk from a top tier club, is his age. Because no team is going to expect him to deliver from day one in Bundesliga , EPL or La Liga, they are not so foolish as to think he would not need time.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Unnamed Trialist

[TGAA_Star]

Jonathan David going to Ligue 1 at this point to Lille may be the best thing for him. Why? He can build his own stardom over there in that league but also the French game isn't as demanding as the German game. David would not only get more time to develop more as a superstar in France but the attention he would get over there especially if Lille were to not only win Ligue 1 but also compete in Champions League vs the attention he would get in Germany, need I say more.

[jonovision]

Off the pitch, Lille would also be less of an adjustment. He already speaks French, and Lille is in the same region as Gent. Heck, if he wanted, he wouldn't even have to move.

[SthMelbRed]

14 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

From a La Liga perspective, and I would say from the other 3 top leagues, a good player in France is untested still. Flat out. Except the very top at PSG at this time. Every player signed from France is always on trial still, and many who end up being quite good need a transition period. I would say this is the same for EPL and Bundesliga. 

I am speaking from experience of a few dozen signings from France I have seen up close at FC Barcelona and other clubs.

The only thing that David has in his favour, that would justify a risk from a top tier club, is his age. Because no team is going to expect him to deliver from day one in Bundesliga , EPL or La Liga, they are not so foolish as to think he would not need time.

Exhibit A to support your position....Nicholas Pepe. He was supposed to be the closest thing to a sure thing coming out of France since Eden Hazard. His limp returns for Arsenal have set Ligue Un clubs back massively with regards to demanding huge sums from the Premier League.

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, SthMelbRed said:

Exhibit A to support your position....Nicholas Pepe. He was supposed to be the closest thing to a sure thing coming out of France since Eden Hazard. His limp returns for Arsenal have set Ligue Un clubs back massively with regards to demanding huge sums from the Premier League.

Exhibit B - Spurs made their record signing Tanguay Ndombele from Lyon, where he'd played well.  He's now sitting on the bench every game, with a return to Ligue 1 rumoured if things don't change before the end of the year.

[Aird25]

3 hours ago, Watchmen said:

Exhibit B - Spurs made their record signing Tanguay Ndombele from Lyon, where he'd played well.  He's now sitting on the bench every game, with a return to Ligue 1 rumoured if things don't change before the end of the year.

Players transfer between leagues and clubs all the time and don’t have the expected or immediate impact. Even between the top clubs in the world. Just look at Hazard now.

The amount of talent that has come out of Ligue 1 recently is massive, and teams are paying good money for players that excel there. Besides, having success at a second club and a second league shows that it’s not a fluke

[Snowcrash]

2 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

Exhibit A to support your position....Nicholas Pepe. He was supposed to be the closest thing to a sure thing coming out of France since Eden Hazard. His limp returns for Arsenal have set Ligue Un clubs back massively with regards to demanding huge sums from the Premier League.

I've been closely following Lille since their near death relegation season when my son used to work there.  He's back in Toronto but I still follow the team.  For every Pepe who underwhelms, there are countless players who have made a seamless transition to a top 8 Champions League tea.

I thought Pepe was good but he dominated physically in a technical league.  A player like David has more soccer IQ in his left boot than Pepe has in his whole body.   Same for Osimhen but at least he's not as ball dominant as Pepe. The only thing he has over David is height and power but that said, he'll do better in Italy than the Premiership. 

David has the type of skills that are not league dependent. He sees and uses space so well his play making abilities will shine if he has some class players around him.  It's too bad that Chakvetadze was injured this season because he's the type of gifted creative player that would have been a dynamic pairing with David.

[Obinna]

Pepe actually reminds me of Tabla. Lots of ability dribbling the ball and taking players on, but lacking the final pass or finishing product. 

[Watchmen]

5 hours ago, Aird25 said:

Players transfer between leagues and clubs all the time and don’t have the expected or immediate impact. Even between the top clubs in the world. Just look at Hazard now.

The amount of talent that has come out of Ligue 1 recently is massive, and teams are paying good money for players that excel there. Besides, having success at a second club and a second league shows that it’s not a fluke

Fair.  I just think we're all just waiting/hoping for him to go to one of the big 4 leagues (EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A) and that opportunity seems to be there now.  If his choice is Lille, we'll all wish him the best of luck and hope he excels.  I just think we'll all just be hoping that it's not his final destination either.

[Kadenge]

With  Phonzie's meteoric rise at Bayern this year, its a bit insane to think that another Canadian player could rise to his level, however I really think David could be there  within a year. He does not have the warp speed of Davies (who has?) but  does have many incredible skillsets in his toolkit...clinical finishing, playmaker, great off the ball movement and ability to find  gaps, good 1v1 ability, good engine,  strong on the ball and most of all incredible soccer IQ. By most normal standards he is pretty fast as well.  He is not a one trick pony and that's why he is difficult to defend against. I have watched a lot of Gent games and he is just an incredible talent. I am confident he will end up with the right club and after a period of adjustment, like he had at Gent,  will excel at a higher level with better players around him. 

[The Beaver 2.0]

31 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

With  Phonzie's meteoric rise at Bayern this year, its a bit insane to think that another Canadian player could rise to his level, however I really think David could be there  within a year. He does not have the warp speed of Davies (who has?) but  does have many incredible skillsets in his toolkit...clinical finishing, playmaker, great off the ball movement and ability to find  gaps, good 1v1 ability, good engine,  strong on the ball and most of all incredible soccer IQ. By most normal standards he is pretty fast as well.  He is not a one trick pony and that's why he is difficult to defend against. I have watched a lot of Gent games and he is just an incredible talent. I am confident he will end up with the right club and after a period of adjustment, like he had at Gent,  will excel at a higher level with better players around him. 

Yeah, I agree with all of this. He needs to continue to develop his physicality--i.e. strength on the ball etc.--but you can see this is coming along already. What most impresses me is how over the last year he has gone from a terrific and composed goal scorer to a guy who reads the game so well. He has shown he has the vision and playmaking skills required to play at the highest level, and we all know that skill and football IQ can take a player far.  (He is naturally a smarter player than Davies, if I can be so bold as to say that. Davies is learning fast, which is great to see, but I feel that David's football IQ is significantly higher.

[Snowcrash]

3 hours ago, Kadenge said:

With  Phonzie's meteoric rise at Bayern this year, its a bit insane to think that another Canadian player could rise to his level, however I really think David could be there  within a year. He does not have the warp speed of Davies (who has?) but  does have many incredible skillsets in his toolkit...clinical finishing, playmaker, great off the ball movement and ability to find  gaps, good 1v1 ability, good engine,  strong on the ball and most of all incredible soccer IQ. By most normal standards he is pretty fast as well.  He is not a one trick pony and that's why he is difficult to defend against. I have watched a lot of Gent games and he is just an incredible talent. I am confident he will end up with the right club and after a period of adjustment, like he had at Gent,  will excel at a higher level with better players around him. 

In addition to the skill set you've listed, David's got an outstanding motor.  This lung busting track back run in the 85th minute against Anderlecht has probably been posted already but here it is again. 

https://www.rtbf.be/sport/football/belgique/jupilerproleague/detail_jonathan-david-sprinte-97m-a-33km-h-en-fin-de-match-contre-anderlecht?id=10428508

 

 

[baulderdash77]

David is fast for sure but at 33 km/h he’s a notch below the super speedsters like Davies Mbappe who are running 36 km/h but he’s only like 1 notch behind the most elite speed guys.

Maybe he’s like a 90 speed  instead of 99

[dyslexic nam]

4 hours ago, Snowcrash said:

In addition to the skill set you've listed, David's got an outstanding motor.  This lung busting track back run in the 85th minute against Anderlecht has probably been posted already but here it is again. 

https://www.rtbf.be/sport/football/belgique/jupilerproleague/detail_jonathan-david-sprinte-97m-a-33km-h-en-fin-de-match-contre-anderlecht?id=10428508

 

 

I may have missed it the first time it was posted..

Damn that is nice to see.  Dude has serious wheels.

[An Observer]

I think the most impressive thing about this track back was (1) when the ball was lost in the box and the Anderlecht player broke, David instantly set off in a sprint to get back which is impressive for an attacker as quite often their inclination is to hesitate as they are always hoping for another chance in the box; and (2) after running the initial 60m at a sprint, he had enough in the tank to actually accelerate to get to the ball first when the attacker had pushed it past the last attacker.  Both of these are impressive in my view and the first demonstrates an innate intelligence in the game that is almost impossible to teach as in a split second he recognised the danger where if he hesitated in the box he would never have been able (even with his speed) to recover.

[SthMelbRed]

2 hours ago, An Observer said:

I think the most impressive thing about this track back was (1) when the ball was lost in the box and the Anderlecht player broke, David instantly set off in a sprint to get back which is impressive for an attacker as quite often their inclination is to hesitate as they are always hoping for another chance in the box; and (2) after running the initial 60m at a sprint, he had enough in the tank to actually accelerate to get to the ball first when the attacker had pushed it past the last attacker.  Both of these are impressive in my view and the first demonstrates an innate intelligence in the game that is almost impossible to teach as in a split second he recognised the danger where if he hesitated in the box he would never have been able (even with his speed) to recover.

That's definitely the kind of thing that endears an attacking player to his teammates. It'd be impossible to watch that and not give the man your respect and trust on the pitch.

[TGAA_Star]

9 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

That's definitely the kind of thing that endears an attacking player to his teammates. It'd be impossible to watch that and not give the man your respect and trust on the pitch.

 

Yeah that's good...definitely an asset

[Strait Red]

L’Equipe in France is reporting a €25 million offer made by Lille for David. it mentions that Gent is looking for 30 to 35 million.

link below

https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Transferts-lille-a-fait-une-offre-de-25-m-et-8364-pour-jonathan-david-la-gantoise/1150542

[Snowcrash]

15 hours ago, An Observer said:

I think the most impressive thing about this track back was (1) when the ball was lost in the box and the Anderlecht player broke, David instantly set off in a sprint to get back which is impressive for an attacker as quite often their inclination is to hesitate as they are always hoping for another chance in the box; and (2) after running the initial 60m at a sprint, he had enough in the tank to actually accelerate to get to the ball first when the attacker had pushed it past the last attacker.  Both of these are impressive in my view and the first demonstrates an innate intelligence in the game that is almost impossible to teach as in a split second he recognised the danger where if he hesitated in the box he would never have been able (even with his speed) to recover.

That was my reaction the first time I saw the video.  He instantly reacted to the situation and knew the Anderlecht player was breaking away. There might be faster players who either don't recognize the danger or are out of gas by the 85th minute.

David runs the most km's on his team each game and his somewhat stocky build belies his fantastic fitness level.

[Snowcrash]

4 minutes ago, Strait Red said:

L’Equipe in France is reporting a €25 million offer made by Lille for David. it mentions that Gent is looking for 30 to 35 million.

link below

https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Transferts-lille-a-fait-une-offre-de-25-m-et-8364-pour-jonathan-david-la-gantoise/1150542

That was how much they paid for Sanches last year, their highest ever transfer.

If 25M is their starting point, they'll likely go a bit higher.

[Ansem]

3 minutes ago, Snowcrash said:

That was how much they paid for Sanches last year, their highest ever transfer.

If 25M is their starting point, they'll likely go a bit higher.

The article said "une offre ferme" which means "take it or leave it" offer unless they're bluffing