According to the Evening Standard, West Ham United are targeting a move for LOSC Lille striker Jonathan David this summer.
West Ham United have already completed the signing of Wes Foderingham and Luis Guilherme and new manager Julen Lopetegui is clearly on a mission to refresh the squad ahead of his first season in charge.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss will be tasked with the challenge to improve upon David Moyes’ legacy in East London and he will be expected to regain a European qualification spot next season with a respectable top-seven finish in the Premier League.
It is clear that Lopetegui wants to make his mark on the squad by adding emerging talent and fresh perspectives and there is still plenty of work left to be done to get the balance right.
Indeed, several players stand out for their individual brilliance, but the reality is that the Hammers could find themselves left behind if they don’t address key roles that are currently occupied by ageing personnel.
One of those roles is the striker position which has been depleted over the last 18 months with the departure of Gianluca Scamacca, while Michail Antonio is now reaching the end of his career and suffered a knee injury that saw him miss 17 games last season.
Now the Evening Standard are reporting that West Ham are interested in signing Lille striker Jonathan David, however, they will have competition as Tottenham Hotspur are also keen on the Canadian goal-scorer.
The report also claims that the Hammers’ hierarchy are wary about making an approach as they feel that their lack of European football for the upcoming season could be off-putting for the talented player.
Will West Ham sign Jonathan David?
There is no doubt that the signing of a prolific goal-scorer should be a top priority for West Ham this summer, as it is the missing piece in the current attacking threat.
Mohamed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta are the lead performers in the forward line and providing them with a consistent striker who could finish off their chances created would be a huge boost to the starting eleven.
Over 34 appearances in Ligue 1 last season, David – who has a reported price tag of £25m – scored 19 goals, registered four assists and created eight big chances, as well as averaging 2.3 shots on goal, 2.4 ball recoveries and 3.5 duels won per game, as per SofaScore.
Not only that, the Canada international has been the recipient of high praise over his career so far, with former Arsenal star Thierry Henry waxing lyrical about the Lille goal machine’s style of play on CBS Sports on Paramount+ (22/02/22 at 7:45 pm):
“When you have a player like Jonathan David, who runs the way he does, in behind,” said Henry.
“His directness. Don’t ask him to come to play or assist because he has none this season.”
“If he sees the centre-back dropping, then he will go in behind. But as soon as he sees there is a gap, he will run and he is also pretty strong too and he loves contacts.”
With that being said, if West Ham could get a deal done for David this summer it would be an incredible signing for Lopetegui’s first season and finally deliver on a worthy replacement for Antonio.
