Jonathan David is Real Good. But Is He Great?

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It’s time we talk about Jonathan David. The 24-year old Canadian star has been plying his trade at Lille for the past four seasons and has one year left on his deal, which means it’s probably time for a big move.

There is a lot to like about David beyond the stats, which are very good if not quite world class. At Lille, he’s played almost exclusively as a centre forward, where he is fast enough to run onto throughballs and has improved his first touch quite a bit since his younger days. He finishes well with both feet.

Back at Gent he played a more varied role, including as a 10, and he’s shown the ability to create for his teammates as well as himself at a good, not great level. StatsBomb’s passing model has him about 70th percentile in more recent years. Defensive workrate is very good, so he’ll fit in fine with all the pressing teams, though may take a little while to adapt tactically and he has still has some learning to do with regard to cover shadows. It all adds up to a package that most CL clubs will be interested, provided they can afford the fee and wages.

Chelsea are reportedly involved and unlike most players this summer, he should be affordable for them. Liverpool are also rumoured to be in the mix, as are basically all of the European giants. He’s been known for years and the contract status makes a move obvious and imminent, with even Lille admitting as much. I’m genuinely curious how he’ll perform at the next stop - he’ll be a good signing for somebody, but will he be a great one? I am firmly on the fence.

What started out as a vague rumour has turned into “Joshua Kimmich is single and ready to mingle actually available this summer,” as he apparently feels it’s time to leave and the German giants want to cash in before he disappears on a free next summer.

This leaves us with a conundrum… we like Joshua Kimmich as a footballer a lot. (His views on science and vaccines possibly less so, but it was a confusing time, and he’s a footballer not a scientist.) Just a year ago, he was one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, both statistically and via the eye test. Last season his defensive production dropped a bit, but part of that may have been role-related. But it might not have been?

SO… we have a You Are The Director Of Football Scenario for you. Assume the following:

1) Arsenal finally manage to get rid of #5 and have both need and space for a DM, even one on the older side.
2) Almost all the other CL-caliber teams in the Premier League ALSO have need of a Kimmich.
3) You can sign him on a 3-year deal and pay him £250-300K a week, which is not Superstar money, but still a worthy pay package.

How much would you pay?

Rumours and News

• It feels like the Michael Olise to Bayern story came out of nowhere last week, but we know the real tale.

• Dominic Calvert-Lewin is potentially on the move and of interest to Newcastle. Given his injury history, it feels like Everton have had the best of his prime and happy to cash in. Back when Newcastle signed Callum Wilson, the GIANT red flag was his injury history. (Cruciate ligament injuries are not your friend, kids.) Wilson’s likely availability on a seasonal basis was probably half the minutes for any particular year and that’s worked out to be fairly accurate. I think DCL remains interesting, but comes with similar buyer beware flags (and obviously plays a very different style to Wilson).

• Newcastle “are prepared to make Manchester United wait the full 18 months until Dan Ashworth can work for them.” Utterly believable. Expect the entire PL to make a shift toward Daniel Levy (and Brighton), and force full gardening leave or compensation for front office talent going forward. [The flip side of this is that front office talent will then have more leverage for higher wages, and REALLY need their own lawyers to look over the employment agreements before signing.]

• Arsenal have allegedly made a bid for Fenerbahce’s left back Ferdi Kadioglu. The report in the Turkish press is that there’s a €10M gap between what Arsenal and Dortmund are offering (25M) and what the team president wants. His profile is one who is very good in possession, with solid defensive output as well. This feels legit enough to have legs, but given the worries about the quality of the Turkish league, I’m sure any suitors will be cautious about overpaying.

• Speaking of left backs, Chelsea’s Ian Maatsen is on his way to Aston Villa as part of the PSR swap ring. Romano is reporting this is a £37.5M deal, with Omari Kellyman going the other way for £19M. The devil is in the details here, and PSR makes for weird incentives, but on the surface this looks like a £20M deal for a highly-capable Champions League left back. Which is a price that is off by a minimum of eight figures.

• Artem Dovbyk apparently has a €40M release clause, which is a pretty good ROI on a one-year investment for Girona, who bought him for 8M last summer. The Ukrainian scored tons of goals the last three season, but prior to that his stats were a mess and he couldn’t lock down a starting place at Midtjylland or even Sonderjyske. Development is hard to predict, especially when it comes to timing.

• I am quite enjoying a return to the transfer ecosystem. There is genuinely so much to love every day.

P.S.
We’ll review your verdicts on the Antony vs Mudryk bunfight tomorrow.