Jonathan David outlines his desire to join Lille this summer

In an interview with L’Equipe, Gent striker Jonathan David has stated that he would like to make the move to Lille during this summer’s transfer window.

The 20-year-old has been with Gent for the past two seasons and he was in top form during the 2019/2020 campaign where he registered 23 goals and 10 assists from 40 appearances across all competitions.

Owing to his performances, he has been touted to pursue a bigger challenge this summer and Lille have emerged as the leading candidates to sign him, having made a formal €25m bid for his services.

On top of this, the Ligue 1 outfit have already negotiated the terms over a five-year contract and David has said that he is eager to secure a move to Christophe Galtier’s side ahead of the new season which starts next month.

Speaking to L’Equipe, he told: “Yes, I want to come to Lille. I have had a very good season. For me, my next step, is Ligue 1. And the footballing project at Lille is fantastic.

“They are a very good team in France. I already speak French. That will help during my adaptation period. And Lille is very close to Gent geographically. So I will be able to concentrate on the pitch.”

So far, Gent have not accepted Lille’s package and they are understood to be looking for at least €30m in order to end their association with David this summer.

When asked about the negotiations, David acknowledged that the talks are complicated at the moment due to Gent’s demands and expressed his frustration over the club’s transfer stance.

“Talks are difficult. The club says they want to keep me. Or be ready to sell me for a price that I don’t think is realistic (at least €30m) when you take into account the Covid-19 situation. That is making negotiations complicated,” He further told.

“In any case, I made it clear that I want to go to Lille. They said to me that they would not block me. At the start, things were going quicker. Now, everything has slowed. As if they are waiting for a better offer. I don’t know where that is supposed to come from.”

David, who was born in the United States, represents Canada at the international level. He has made an impressive beginning to his national team career with 12 goals from just 11 caps.

With Lille open to selling Victor Osimhen to Napoli, David could act as a direct replacement for the Nigeria international, who was recruited from Wolfsburg last summer following the exit of Nicolas Pepe.

As things stand, Lille are yet to make a renewed offer to land David’s signature, but they could be willing to pay the additional €5m fee, should they sanction the sale of Osimhen in the near future.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com