Aston Villa ‘in the running’ to sign player Unai Emery admires from French club
Aston Villa were one of the clubs who made contact with Lille star Jonathan David in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
The striker has less than a year left on his contract and his long term plans need to be decided as they are up in the air.
The 24-year-old has expressed his interest to a potential move to the Premier League and at the same time the forward is open to moving to another league.
Some of Europe’s biggest clubs showed interest in David such as Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid, Napoli and AC Milan. The latter three decided to target other potential moves with Inter Milan and Aston Villa left as the favourites to sign him.
In an interview with The Athletic, David said: “My contract is about to expire. We will see then. I’m open to everything and I don’t limit myself to the Premier League. All championships are exciting. We are currently discussing with the president for a possible extension. We will see how it develops.
“It just didn’t happen. There were a couple of offers and we just didn’t finish the deal, that’s it.
“I spoke to a couple of teams. I spoke with coaches. But ultimately we made the decision to stay. What am I waiting for? I guess now it’s easier to say. I’m in the last year of my contract. Eventually my contract is going to run out. So then we’ll see. We’ll see what happens next year.
“Right now we’re speaking with [Lille president Oliver Letang] about a possible extension. We’ll see how that goes.
“I’m open to anything. I think obviously the Premier League is regarded as one of the best leagues in the world. And for me it’s not the Premier League or bust. I’m open to anything and every league has its challenges.”
The English club want David with Unai Emery admiring him as a player and will be keen to sign him next summer to improve their goal threat, while helping them to compete in the Champions League and domestic trophies.
Villa won’t give up on the Canadian, FC Inter News claim they are ‘in the running’ with Juventus to sign David and will compete with Inter Milan for the contract signature.
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Villa will look to sign David next summer on a free.
Villa play Everton in the Saturday night football slot and will hope to continue their positive start to the season.
