Jonathan David: Free agent finds new club after transfer agreement on cut-price contract

Jonathan David may have finally found his new team after months of pursuits from clubs all over the world who have been trying to sign the bargain free agent this summer.

David will leave Lille upon the expiry of his contract next week and the Canadian international has been pursued by virtually every top club looking to secure the services of a 25-year-old who has been a proven scorer in Ligue 1 for the last five years.

Having initially held negotiations with his top club Barcelona, as well as a number of Premier League clubs such as Manchester United, West Ham and Chelsea, David seemingly leveraged the interest in him to demand a significant salary that many teams have so far been unwilling to meet.

But a report from Italian outlet Gazzetta has revealed that Juventus are closing in David’s signing, with ‘confidence growing’ that the Serie A giants will secure his arrival in the coming days.

Having already netted €7 million from reaching the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup, Juventus held talks with David this week and the forward is said to be ‘determined’ to ‘get on the Bianconeri train’ at the cost of lowering his salary demands.

Juventus are understood to have quickly made a ‘decisive’ move to offer an annual salary of €6m plus bonuses and David has reportedly asked his agents to ‘facilitate’ towards a total agreement as he closes in on his new team.

Juventus ready to negotiate with transfer targets with ‘less anxiety’

The news may come to a disappointment to a number of sides who had been quoted higher salary demands by David earlier in the year and the Lille star is now off the table for teams who had been desperate to bring him in as a low-cost option in a hotly-contested striker market.

Juventus had been interested in Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres but the deal was proving unrealistic, and the Italian side’s desperation for a new striker had seemingly led to difficult negotiations over some targets.

Randal Kolo Muani and Juventus are keen to continue their relationship next season after a successful loan stint and the club now believe they can manage negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain with ‘less anxiety’, having effectively secured David’s signature.

Meanwhile, Juve had deemed Dusan Vlahovic’s renewal as a lost cause due to his demands but they may return to the negotiation tables for their Serbian star in the hopes his salary request will be lowered knowing that the club do not need to rely on him anymore.

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