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Jonathan David transfer would play into Sir Jim Ratcliffe Manchester United plan as interest grows

Jonathan David
-Credit:2025 Icon Sport


For Manchester United, when looking at what they can do this month or in the summer they know they need something to sell.

The pull of United has always been immense, and while competitive struggles on the pitch in more recent years may have taken away some of the shine, the club remains a global powerhouse, still rungs above most of its Premier League rivals when it comes to sheer size and reach.

But so damaging have the past couple of years been, the club cannot simply trade on ‘being United’ as they head into this summer, and it is becoming increasingly unlikely that they will be able to offer incoming players UEFA Champions League football next season, barring a minor miracle from Ruben Amorim’s men.

But they are a team that is in a rebuilding phase, both on the pitch and behind the scenes, and more pain is likely to arrive before meaningful progress is made. In terms of what United will be selling this summer, it won’t be the brand or paying enormous wages to blow their rivals out of the water, those days have gone, it will be, however, that this is a project, one that is in its infancy, with a young manager who, despite a tough start, has been lauded in recent seasons as one of Europe’s very brightest managerial talents.

This is the way back for United, or at least that will be the selling point when they pitch woo to potential new arrivals, one of whom could be Lille’s Canadian striking sensation Jonathan David, a player who has been coveted by a number of United’s Premier League rivals, including Arsenal, Aston Villa and Newcastle United.

Chronicle Live revealed on Tuesday that Newcastle had made the first move on David, sending a high-level delegation to France to watch Brooklyn-born 25-year old in action for Lille against OGC Nice, the club owned by United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS firm.

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David is out of contract in the summer and Lille have been adamant that they won’t be entertaining a sale in January given how important he is to them and their push for Champions League football next season, which is hugely lucrative for the French side. In order to extricate him from the Ligue 1 club in the next 10 days would take an over-the-odds offer, and in the current flat market there isn’t the appetite to engage in that, certainly not from United’s end.

The summer is likely to be when David moves, if he does indeed decide to do so given that he has a contract offer on the table from Lille. He would be available on a free transfer and would command wages in the region of £120,000 to £150,000 per week. It is the kind of deal that will have huge appeal to United, although the lack of being able to offer something David craves, which is Champions League football next season, means that the pitch will have to be very much on the mark.

Ratcliffe has been clear from the beginning at United, ever since concluding his minority 27.7% stake in the club and being handed football strategy oversight by the controlling Glazer family, that finding ways to make the football club more efficient would be his modus operandi. Staff cuts and removal of perks have already been brought in, while the era of excess when it comes to transfer and wage spend looks to be over, with the club’s willingness to listen to offers for homegrown players such as Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho instructive when it comes to the club looking to give themselves spending headroom after sailing close to the wind with PSR.

Free transfers for coveted players on the continent is something that very much aligns with what Ratcliffe would want to see, alongside working smarter with recruitment to bring in young talents for a better price before they start to realise top-level potential, much in the same way that Brighton & Hove Albion, Unite’s conquerors at the weekend, have been able to do with such great effect.

With outgoings on the horizon in the form of Antony, who has gone to be somewhat of a poster boy for poor recruitment and profligate spending at Old Trafford, as well as the potential shedding of Marcus Rashford and his £325,000 per week wages with an exit, United will be looking to bring both wages and amortisation costs down on the balance sheet while, at the same time, trying to raise standards and quality on the pitch.

That is a tall order, but opportunities like David, while rare, offer United the chance to start to turn the tide within the confines of what Ratcliffe believes they should be doing, and if they can align that with not overpaying on young talent, with Lecce full-back Patrick Dorgu on the radar, then they might finally start to turn a corner, but they’ll have to buy into a model in the way that the likes of Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford all have if it is truly to work sustainably over time. That takes patience.