Could Premier League giants Arsenal replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with an unproven youngster in Genk’s Jonathan David?
With all due respect to the Bundesliga, there is a reason why some have suggested that Jonathan David would be better off at a Gladbach, a Frankfurt or even a Dortmund rather than heading straight to the Premier League this summer.
Essentially, because German football often acts as a stepping stone, allowing young players to prove themselves in a more competitive league before moving on again to bigger and supposedly better things (ahem, Erling Haaland).
But after a quite remarkable breakthrough season in the Belgian top flight, 20-year-old Canadian Jonathan David thinks he is ready to, in the words of one Twitter commentator, ‘cut out the middle man’.
“I want to become one of the best strikers in the world. That’s my goal,” he tells The Guardian. “The Premier League is the best in the world and most competitive so obviously that is somewhere I would love to play in the future.”
Whether ‘the future’ means ‘this summer’ remains to be seen.
Goal reports that Arsenal have identified David as a £17.5 million replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should the Gabonese goal-machine head for the door. The Brooklyn-born youngster might be completely unproven at the top level but, with 23 goals and ten assists to his name this season alone, maybe he is ready for the Emirates after all.
Arsenal’s modern-day success has been built on their willingness to give youth a chance. And if David can emulate the success of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, this will be one of the most inspired deals you’ll see all summer.
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