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Lille Signs Canadian Star Jonathan David in $35 Million Transfer

The 20-year-old heads to Ligue 1 after a successful run in the Belgian top flight.

Avi Creditor

Canadian star forward Jonathan David is on the move from Gent to Lille in a $35 million (30 million euros) transfer, leaving the Belgian top flight for France's Ligue 1.

David, 20, scored 37 goals for Gent in all competitions over the last two seasons, 23 of which came last season. Along with Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies, he represents the core of Canada's rising talent, and at Lille, he'll team with a young U.S. national team prospect, winger Tim Weah.

David will wear the No. 9 shirt for Lille, which will compete in next season's UEFA Europa League by virtue of a fourth-place finish in Ligue 1's abbreviated season.

David was the top scorer (six goals) at a 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup that also featured the likes of Christian Pulisic and Raul Jimenez, and he has 11 goals for Canada in his 12-game international career. Born in Brooklyn before moving to Haiti and then ultimately Ottawa, David made his debut with Gent at 18.

He'll help fill the void left behind by Nigerian star Victor Osimhen, who became Napoli's club-record signing after an $82 million transfer. That duty will also fall on Turkish veteran Burak Yilmaz, who signed with Lille on a free transfer at the beginning of the month.

"We are very proud today to welcome Jonathan David, a great talent who has already demonstrated at his young age all his potential and his many qualities within the Belgian championship," Lille CEO Marc Ingla said in a statement. "He is a player with not only great physical and technical abilities, but also mental qualities, which make him particularly alert, agile and decisive.โ€

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Avi Creditor
AVI CREDITOR

Avi Creditor is a senior editor and has covered soccer for more than a decade. Heโ€™s also a scrappy left back.ย 

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