Arsenal’s transfer pursuit of a striker has stepped up a notch in the last week.
The Gunners crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain last Wednesday, leaving Mikel Arteta’s team with little to play for in the remainder of the season.
Thus, attentions have turned to next season, and how the North London club can best prepare themselves to ensure they’re challenging on all fronts again.
Viktor Gyokeres has emerged as Arsenal’s most likely striker signing, although Andrea Berta is keen not to put all his eggs in one basket and is still exploring other options.
Arsenal interested in signing free agent Jonathan David
While Gyokeres’ goal-scoring record speaks for itself, the Swedish number nine won’t come cheap, and the Gunners have a lot of needs in other areas of the pitch.
Sporting are reportedly looking for in excess of £63 million for Gyokeres, which would be a significant outlay for a centre-forward with minimal experience at the highest level.
According to Inter Live, Arsenal are the ‘hottest club’ for Lille striker Jonathan David, who will be available for free at the end of the season when his contract with the French club expires and has been described as ‘outstanding’ by football podcaster HLTCO.
Arsenal Insider revealed in April that Berta is an admirer of David, and that the Italian sporting director could sign the Canadian to preserve funds for other areas that need addressing.
Inter Live report that Napoli, Juventus and Inter Milan are all also in the race to sign David, although they may be priced out by Premier League clubs who can afford to meet the player’s wage demands.
Chelsea, West Ham and Newcastle will compete with Arsenal for the 25-year-old’s signature, with this extensive list of suitors perhaps making it difficult for the Gunners to land him.
However, if Berta is able to pull the deal off, it would allow the North Londoners to go big on a world-class winger, while they’d also be able to further strengthen their midfield department.
Would Jonathan David be a smart signing for Arsenal?
David has scored 25 goals across all competitions this season, and found the back of the net 26 times in each of the last two campaigns.
Evidently prolific in Ligue 1, he’s a talented player who would be a smart pick-up on a free transfer for any club.
However, Arsenal have aspirations of winning the Premier League title and the Champions League, and a player of David’s calibre leading the line every week probably won’t cut it.
| David’s Ligue 1 Statistics 2024/25 | |
| Appearances | 31 |
| Goals | 16 |
| Assists | 5 |
| Shots per 90 | 2.32 |
| Expected Goals per 90 | 0.58 |
| Key Passes per 90 | 1.3 |
| Expected Assists per 90 | 0.12 |
| Successful Take-ons per 90 | 0.72 |
David accumulates just 0.38 non-penalty expected goals, which is less than what Kai Havertz puts up in a much more challenging league.
This suggests that even with efficient finishing, David is unlikely to score the volume of goals in the Premier League that Arsenal would expect.
As for his all-round game, he offers very little in comparison to the German.
Arsenal and Berta should steer clear of David, unless he’s merely deemed a depth piece.