Profile of Jonathan David the Canadian Wonderkid

DBasia.news – Canadian football has bright future prospects. They have a shining and thriving Alphonso Davies with Bayern Munich at the age of 20, as well as a name that is on the watchbook of European club scouts. He is Jonathan David.

Jonathan David currently plays at Lille and the club’s journey nicknamed Les Dogues this season (2020-2021) is like trying to turn a dream into a reality. Who would have thought that Christophe Galtier’s club was on the way to ending PSG (Paris Saint-Germain’s) domination in Ligue 1?

In a league that is often ridiculed as the ‘Farmer League’ or ‘Farmers League’ because of the dominance of PSG which is considered to be able to easily win Ligue 1 every year because of the power of their money and players, Lille have emerged as a candidate for champion along with PSG, AS Monaco and Olympique Lyonnais. .

Until Week 34 of Ligue and four more matches remaining, the competition is heating up. Lille are in first place (73 points) followed by PSG (72 points), Monaco (71 points) and Lyon (67 points).

The presence of Lille is quite interesting, because there are not many famous players in their squad. Galtier has an interesting combination of young-senior players.

Experienced people such as Jose Fonte, Burak Yilmaz, and Jeremy Pied were joined by talented young men such as Renato Sanches, Timothy Weah, and Jonathan David.

Renato Sanches is well known for his work in Portugal and Bayern Munich, as is Weah who is the son of football legend George Weah, but the latter name (David) is quite interesting to discuss.

Already Migrated at a Young Age

Born in Brooklyn, New York, United States on January 14, 2000, David was born to parents who came from Haiti. He moved to Haiti when he was three months old and at the age of six David and his parents migrated to Ottawa from Haiti.

At the age of 11 David pursued his dream of becoming a professional footballer and joined local club Ottawa Gloucester. David was not a ‘peanut forget skins’ figure when he lived in Ottawa, because he always remembers Haiti. He took a different choice when Haiti had more ice hockey players than footballers.

“I still have a lot of affection for Haiti because that’s where my family comes from and that’s where I grew up,” David told the Guardian in 2020. “When I moved to Canada, all I knew was life in Haiti; culture and way of life.”

“It’s not easy – going somewhere you know well to the unknown takes a little bit of time to adapt.”

“Wherever you go at first it is always difficult. But my parents did it so we had more security and opportunities. It was a sacrifice they had to make and I’m grateful for that.”

David continued to hone his skills in Ottawa until he was scouted by Belgian club talent scout Gent and brought to Belgium in 2017.

David himself moved to Belgium to wander in pursuit of his dream, and he also had to be patient waiting to turn 18 years old so he could train with Gent according to the rules of FIFA.

“I’m far from home and it can be scary because you don’t know what’s on the other side,” added David. “But I know that this is a sacrifice I have to make if I want to become a professional player.”

“When I moved here, I had to be a man because I lived alone. I know my family is only a phone call away, but I have to find a solution to my own problem.”

Slowly developing with Gent, David underwent his best season in 2019-2020 with a record of 23 goals and 10 assists, and even almost eliminated AS Roma in the last 32 of the Europa League. His performance could be better if football did not stop when the corona virus pandemic attacked the world.

In December 2020, to his mother’s surprise, Rose passed away and David was allowed to go home to Gent. The news depressed him, but thickened his mental strength and determination.

Successor to the Lille Tradition

One good season is enough to lift Jonathan David’s name so that clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, are eyeing him. With his ambition to play in the Premier League, David was previously predicted to play in England.

“I want to be one of the best strikers in the world. That’s my goal. The Premier League is the best in the world and the most competitive, so obviously that is the place I want to play in the future,” added David.

But fate says differently, it’s not time for David to play in the Premier League. As a result in the summer of 2020 Lille secured his services of 32 million euros from Gent.

“We are very proud today to welcome Jonathan David, a great talent who has shown at a young age all his potential and quality in the Belgian League,” said Lille CEO Marc Ingla.

“He is a player with not only great physical and technical abilities, but also my qualities, which made him very alert, agile, and decisive.”

David’s decision wasn’t wrong. Lille is well-known as one of the clubs in Europe that is good at developing young talent and then selling them at high prices.

Those who go with big tags like Nicolas Pepe, Thiago Mendes, Rafael Leao, Victor Osimhen, Yves Bissouma, and Sofiane Boufal. You don’t need to look at the big price tag, just seeing how they developed while playing at Lille is already a positive thing for David.

“This is a very good team with great players. I want to play and develop and I think this is the right place,” said David of Lille.

Filling the post that Osimhen left to Napoli, David played as an attacking midfielder and also a second striker. In that position, David maximizes his talents in terms of speed, acceleration, playing technique, dribbling the ball, and finishing.

David is not a ‘product’ that has ended. A new chapter in the 21 year old’s career is just beginning. Later David could become the backbone of the Canadian national team and could fulfill his dream of playing in the Premier League.