Thierry Henry has praised Lille forward and Arsenal transfer target, Jonathan David, and the ‘directness’ in his game, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (22/02/22 at 7:45 pm).
The Arsenal legend added that David isn’t someone who drops deep and plays, but he is constantly ‘running in behind’ the defence.
It’s pretty obvious that Arsenal need a striker during the summer transfer window, whether their out-of-contract stars, Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah, sign new contracts or not.
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David is a player on their summer radar, as reported by The Athletic, with the 22-year-old’s current contract at Lille expiring in 2025, so he’s not going to come cheap.
Either way, Henry shared his thoughts on Canada’s rising star and the type of player his former club are looking at.
“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.”
A player of David’s ilk would fit right in at Arsenal and the attacking flair that Mikel Arteta picks from on a regular basis.
The likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard are looking for that player that has intelligent off-the-ball movement and can open space for others around him.
Not only that, Arteta has proven with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Smith Rowe, Odegaard and Gabriel, to name a few, that he can take the game of a young gun to the next level.
And David is a player that would certainly feel like he can follow the same patch if he swapped north of France for north London.