No goals in seven games: £25m striker dries up after Arsenal and Liverpool links

Follow us on Google Discover

After seven games in Lille colours, Victor Osimhen already had five goals under his belt.

So it’s only natural that less-than-favourable comparisons are being drawn between Jonathan David and a man who became Napoli’s £63 million record signing after just one stunning season at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.

With 17 points from a possible 21, Lille are flying high at the top of Ligue 1. But there’s a nagging feeling this remarkable run of form has come in spite of, rather than because of, Osimhen’s £25 million replacement.

Bronx-born David has started all seven of Lille’s Ligue 1 matches in 2020/21, including Sunday’s 4-0 thumping of Lens. But his goal tally so far stands at zero.

Is the so-called ‘Iceman’ starting to melt under the pressure of being the most expensive signing in Lille’s history?

Galtier has already admitted David has yet to hit his stride in French football and, after drawing a seventh successive blank, the experienced coach was once again forced to field some probing questions.

“It’s a little more difficult for Jonathan. He knows it, I see it in his face after the game. He is a goalscorer, and a goalscorer who does not score can sometimes fall into doubt,” Galtier explains to FootMercato.

“He has to look deep inside himself for something else, to find this click. He is very young. Maybe he underestimated the level of Ligue 1?”

Earlier this year, Goal reported Arsenal had identified David as a potential long-term successor for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Canada international produced a remarkable 23 goals and ten assists for Belgian giants Gent last term.

Walfoot reported almost every club in the Premier League, including Liverpool, Aston Villa, Southampton and Tottenham, had scouts flocking to the Ghelmco Arena before Lille took the punt instead.

But with no goals in more than 500 minutes on the other side of the Channel, David is in danger of shrinking in Osimhen’s shadow.

And, as Aston Villa will tell you with Wesley Moraes and Mbwana Samatta toiling in claret and blue, the Jupiler League isn’t always an accurate barometer of a striker’s potential.