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CanPL.ca debate: What’s the ideal transfer move for CanMNT’s Jonathan David?

Watch the latest episode of CanPL.ca’s Virtual Newsroom as Charlie, Marty, and John debate and discuss Canadian soccer’s most pressing topics – including a future Jonathan David transfer.


Canadian Jonathan David is one of the hottest prospects in world football at the moment.

Having torn it up with Gent in the Belgian league over the past two seasons, David has been monitored by and linked with some of the top clubs across Europe.

The 20-year-old native of Ottawa has clearly outgrown the Belgian league, and it’s become inevitable that he’ll make a transfer move this summer.

“It’s time for me to move and go somewhere where I can keep developing and get to the potential that I have. The league that would suit me the most right now is the Bundesliga,” David recently told Sky Sports.

“It’s similar to the Belgian league in terms of the tempo and the physicality, but obviously the quality is higher in Germany and there is more competition.”

David is on the radar of Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Inter Milan, Porto, Ajax, Olympique Lyon, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, to name but a few.

But what’s the ideal move for the young Canadian?

The CanPL.ca editorial crew of John Molinaro, Marty Thompson, and Charlie O’Connor-Clarke offer their thoughts.


RELATED READING: Jonathan David primed for transfer, but where just as important as timing


O’CONNOR-CLARKE: AFC Ajax

I will keep banging this drum, even though the scale of some of the other interested clubs seems to make this one, by comparison, a little less exciting.

If there’s a club out there who knows how to develop a young player, it’s Ajax. That’s what the team is built on, and although that’s traditionally meant a squad filled with their academy products, it also means they’ve been unafraid to give minutes to very young players, regardless of whether they’re an international or domestic player.

The top side in the Eredivisie would be a more incremental step up from the Belgian league, and it would save David from being lost in the sea of veteran talent at some of the bigger teams rumoured to be after him. Ajax could be looking for some new young blood in its attack, with captain Dusan Tadic now getting up there in age.

David’s versatility would be immensely useful to an Ajax side, who play in a league that won’t be a massive culture shock to David in terms of style of play.

MOLINARO: Borussia Dortmund

Given David’s comments to Sky Sports about how the Bundesliga would suit him the most right now, a move to Borussia Dortmund seems like a natural fit for the young Canadian.

The reason why David should leave Gent is because he needs regular first-team football with a top European club – one that also regularly competes in the UEFA Champions League – in order to continue to his development as a player and reach the next level.

Dortmund would tick off both of those boxes. Die Schwarzgelben (The Black and Yellows) routinely challenge Bayern Munich for first place in the Bundesliga, one of the top domestic divisions in the world, while also regularly advancing to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Dortmund’s attacking brand of football (they boast the second-best offence in the Bundesliga at the moment, with 74 goals) would match David’s skill set. Combining pace and a direct style with lethal finishing skills and ability to hold up the ball to bring his teammates into the play, David could be a major reference point in Dortmund’s potent attack, especially in partnership with fellow forward Erling Braut Håland, and with Jadon Sancho lending creative support in midfield.

THOMPSON: Bayer Leverkusen

If the Bundesliga is David’s desired locale, a club on the level of Bayer Leverkusen would be a perfect fit.

Taking off my Alphonso Davies-branded rose-coloured glasses, I still see David in a key developmental stage of his career. Moving to a large club can greatly hinder your growth – his national team colleague Davies is an exceptional case, and we can’t forget that. A Borussia Dortmund or AFC Ajax could be too much, too soon. Would David play over Erling Braut Håland or Jadon Sancho? Likely not.

Just like Håland, who jumped to RB Salzburg before Dortmund, David needs a solid mid-tier option such as Leverkusen. What’s more, this is a club that could use a starting central attacker. Starter Kevin Volland has seen his stock rise exponentially since joining the club in 2016. Now 27 and returning from injury, Volland could easily be sold or, at the very least, used more sparingly on a team with little depth at centre-forward.