David moving to Lille in Canadian transfer record

Canadian forward Jonathan David has agreed to join France’s Lille for a Canadian-record transfer fee of 30 million euros ($47.3 million).

A source said the two sides are in the paperwork stage.

David, 20, voted Canada’s player of the year in 2019, tied for leading scorer in the top Belgian league this season with 18 goals for KAA Gent.

Lille (15-9-4) was fourth in France’s top-tier Ligue 1 when the season was put on hold due to the pandemic. England’s Leeds United and Arsenal were also reportedly interested in David.

“He’s a special talent,” Canada coach John Herdman said last September. “I think he’s got big things coming.”

With 11 goals in just 12 senior appearances, he is already halfway to matching Dwayne De Rosario’s Canadian men’s record of 22 national team goals. De Rosario, who doubled as an attacking midfielder and forward, compiled his total in 81 games between 1997 and 2015.

Six of David’s goals came at the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he won the Golden Boot as top scorer and was named to the tournament’s Best XI.

The previous Canadian record transfer was Alphonso Davies’ move to Bayern Munich from the Vancouver Whitecaps. That July 2018 deal involved a fixed transfer fee and additional compensation that could total more than $29.5 million.

Born in New York, David was three months when his family moved to its native Haiti and six when they came north to Ottawa. He played for Gloucester Dragons Soccer, Ottawa Gloucester SC and Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club, representing Canada at the under-17 level.

A trial with KAA Gent came in 2017 after a scout saw him on video. He went to Belgium twice that year, spending time with the second team before earning a full-time invitation. After finishing high school in Ottawa, he returned to Europe to play soccer full-time.