‘Greatest talent I’ve worked with’: Manager admits Arsenal and Liverpool-linked star will go

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Premier League clubs, including Mikel Arteta’s Gunners and Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, are rivalling Everton, Tottenham and Aston Villa for Jonathan David.

Gent coach Jess Thorup is in ‘no doubt’ that Jonathan David will join one of Europe’s biggest clubs sooner rather than later, speaking to Bold after his star man was linked with a move to Arsenal and Liverpool.

With the global health crisis likely to make those £100 million transfers a thing of the past this summer, players like David will be in high demand. The 20-year-old Canada international will not come cheap but nor will he require a bank-busting sum with Goal suggesting that a £17.5 million offer could do the trick.

Arsenal have identified one of the game’s rising stars as a potential replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – which speaks volumes about a player who only made his professional debut in August 2018.

Walfoot claims that David also has admirers at Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Southampton. That is to be expected, of course, after the Brooklyn-born wonderkid produced 23 goals and ten assists from his ‘raumdauter’ role.

And Thorup, the Gent coach who previously enjoyed spells at Midtjylland and with the Danish U21 side, has been left blown away by a man who has taken Belgian football by storm.

“I hope, of course, that we can keep him for one more season. But then he will probably move on to one of the big clubs in the big leagues. There is no doubt about that,” Thorup says.

“When I first saw him, I thought he was amazing. A player of that age with the finishing skills is very rare to see. And at the same time, he is an incredibly intelligent player.

“He is probably the greatest talent I’ve worked with, and I think I can safely say that there is no limit to how far he can go.”

The likely departure of Aubameyang, one of the elite goalscorers in world football, would leave David with huge shoes to fill at the Emirates. Perhaps a move to Everton, Villa or Southampton would be a more sensible option for a player who has plenty of time on his side and no need to rush things.