Arsenal will come to a decision this summer on who will take over the mantle of leading striker from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The latter has already left Arsenal while the French forward is expected to see out his contract ahead of it expiring in the summer along with Eddie Nketiah. Champions League qualification is the aim for the final games of the season and reaching Europe's elite tournament will surely aid the Gunners’ hopes of landing a world-class forward this summer.
Plenty of names have been suggested and it is likely the frequency of rumours corresponds to the long list of potential targets the club has and is scouting ahead of the summer window.
One name however that has been linked for some time is Lille striker Jonathan David. The Canadian superstar has adopted a new goalscoring approach this season after acting as much more of a second striker to Burak Yilmaz in the title-winning campaign of 2020/21.
12 goals in 26 Ligue 1 matches means David is just one away from the 13 goals the 22-year-old managed to convert during the entirety of the previous campaign.
Edu reportedly met with the player’s agent at the end of December, with a view to potentially formalising that interest in the close season if Arsenal are successful in their hunt for a top-four finish.
However, Arsenal have now been told what it will require to get their hands on David in the summer and the requirements are well within the club’s grasp.
According to Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Arsenal would have to pay a fee between €45m-€55m (£38m-£46m) to sign David but would also need to be in the Champions League. That is a figure that would certainly be well within the realms of possibility for the Gunners.
Arsenal are the current favourites to claim the fourth spot in the table and according to FiveThirtyEight have a 60% chance of reaching it according to the latest prediction algorithms. That figure is more than three times that of Manchester United or Tottenham.
David would provide Arsenal with plenty of the characteristics that Mikel Arteta has been searching for in a forward.
Pressing, clinical finishing and link-up play to name just a few. However, he has played the majority of his senior career with another forward.
Whether Arsenal are planning on converting David into a sole No.9 or switching formations is unclear at this stage.
However, with only Folarin Balogun expected to be at the club as a senior orthodox striker in the summer, David alone will not be enough and the club will likely pursue more than the sole forward.
This could provide David with the partner at Arsenal he needs to succeed in north London and give Arteta plenty of options to tackle what will hopefully be a season involving the addition of Champions League football.
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