25.02.2020 - 11:16 | Source: Het Laatste Nieuws/TM | Reading Time: 3 mins

Gent turned down record offer David on the radar of Arsenal, Man United & Co.: “Won’t let such a player leave for €25m”

Only few players are currently courted by as many clubs as KAA Gent’s Jonathan David. The 20-year-old Canadian, who secured the spot on top of the Belgian goalscorer rankings with a hat-trick against Sint-Truidense VV on Sunday, made the headlines with strong performances this season. The international, who is used as a centre-forward or playmaker, scored 22 and assisted another 10 goals in 37 matches in all competitions so far.

Stats of Jonathan David

“Without a doubt: Jonathan is ready for the next step,” his agent Nick Mavromaras therefore thinks. Talking to Het Laatste Nieuws, he adds: “Gent has boosted his career, the club did a lot for him. I understand that they would like to keep him longer, but Jonathan wants to go ahead. The Belgian league is fantastic for young players, but the moment for the next step arrives and this will come in the summer.”

Market value of Jonathan David

The list of interested clubs is long. Besides Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton, the Belgian newspaper also mentions Porto, Ajax, Inter Milan, Olympique Lyon and Bundesliga sides Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen as clubs that regularly sent scouts to have a look at David’s performances.

David’s agent on Arsenal: “Next step can’t be too big”

His agent does not want to make a rash decision, however. “His final target is to play for one of the five best clubs in the world. (…) But for now, we have to stay humble. The next step in his career can’t be too big. (…) For example, Arsenal. There we speak about the top five in the Premier League. The next step has to be an intelligent one. There, this would possibly be a step too big at the moment. The whole package has to be right. (…) An intermediate step can be better sometimes,” Mavromaras explains.

To reach an agreement with Gent, a club would have to pay a serious amount of money for the prolific scorer. The Jupiler Pro League’s record fee of €25 million, which has recently been paid for Wesley (from Brugge to Aston Villa) and previously for Youri Tielemans (from Anderlecht to Monaco), will almost certainly be topped.

Michel Louwagie, Gent’s director of football, confirmed that he even turned down such an offer: “In January, a record offer was on the table, but we turned it down. Our target is to keep this team together, even beyond the summer. We extended the contract with David until 2023 for a good reason. (…) It’s wonderful that we have a top scorer in David, but most of all, we want to keep him. In any case, we won’t let such a player leave for €25 million.”