Arsenal wanted Jonathan David long before signing Gabriel Jesus and he’s now in blistering form over in France.
It was abundantly clear that Arsenal needed to sign a striker in 2022.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was offloaded to Barcelona in January and Alexandre Lacazette wasn’t given a new contract.
Arsenal did go for Dusan Vlahovic in January only to miss out to Juventus, meaning they then chose to wait until the summer.
Gabriel Jesus ended up signing from Manchester City and Arsenal will be delighted with their choice given that the Brazilian is shining.
ARSENAL WANTED JONATHAN DAVID
One name Arsenal considered months before signing Gabriel Jesus was that of Lille striker Jonathan David.
Football London reported in January that Edu had held talks with David’s agent Nick Mavromaras over a potential move to Arsenal.
That didn’t materialise and Lille surprisingly managed to keep hold of David through the summer window too.
David, 22, has started this season in blistering form, racking up nine goals in just 11 games for Lille.
Friday’s brace in a 3-0 win over Strasbourg now means that David is joint-top of the Ligue 1 scoring charts alongside Neymar.
That’s esteemed company and it also means that David is currently outscoring the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
David will soon be heading off to the World Cup, where he will be one of the key players in the Canadian national team.
Should David impress in Qatar, you can imagine that there will be even more interest in his signature and Lille can ramp up their asking price.
Will Arsenal still be keen?
They would be wise to keep tabs on David, especially as he has also played as a number 10 or on the flanks.
Spending big on a striker after signing Gabriel Jesus seems unlikely, especially after securing Eddie Nketiah to a new contract.
Arsenal need to keep strikers on their radar just in case they need to move quickly though, and David’s form in France shows that he should still be on Edu’s list.