West Ham United and Aston Villa are ready to jump in and join Arsenal in the transfer race to sign Lille’s 22-year-old forward Jonathan David, as per a report from But! Football Club.
Fichajes had earlier indicated that Arsenal are looking into the 22-year-old and now they might have competition from the Hammers and Villa as David continues to impress with his performances in the Ligue 1 this season.
The 22-year-old has scored 15 goals in 36 Ligue 1 matches this campaign which has taken up his tally to 30 goals in 94 appearances for Lille since his joining back in 2020. As per Fotmob, his current market valuation is around €53 million.
Why do West Ham United and Aston Villa want the 22-year-old?
The Hammers have done really well under Moyes but Michail Antonio has been their one and only striker this season and this has certainly taken a toll on him as well as on the side. David Moyes is frantically searching for a backup forward and given his fine performances in the Ligue 1, Jonathan David can certainly be that player.
Moyes needs at least two new strikers to be able to challenge for the top-four next season as well.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, have several centre-forwards in their current squad but Danny Ings has been a disappointment and as per the rumours, Steven Gerrard is looking for a younger option.
🚨🇨🇦| Lille open to selling Jonathan David this summer if a club offers the right proposal.
[@FabrizioRomano] pic.twitter.com/wIXfCcvVj2
— UtdActive 🔴 (@UtdActive) May 14, 2022
Villa are reshaping their squad in Gerrard’s vision so there will be a lot of reshuffles at Villa Park during the summer transfer window.
Should Arsenal back off from signing Jonathan David?
Jonathan David has been on fire for Lille this season but Arsenal are still paying the price for signing an unknown superstar from Lille.
Nicolas Pepe was at the peak of his game at Lille which is why Arsenal paid a hell lot of money to bring him on board but he’s been a failure from the very first day he step foot in England.
Ligue 1 is not high in terms of competition and since Arsenal already have one bad experience we think they should stay away from signing someone like Jonathan David.
David will be much better off joining West Ham United or Aston Villa where the expectations are a lot lower meaning he will have time to adjust and readapt to the Premier League.
Also, if Arsenal qualify for the Champions League, Mikel Arteta needs to sign some experienced strikers so they can compete with Europe’s big boys next season and someone like Jonathan David will just not make the cut.
