Reflecting on Jonathan David's journey from unknown name to global star at Lille OSC
This weekend officially marks the end of an era.
As was announced this week, Jonathan David will be officially leaving Lille OSC at the end of the 2024-2025 season, meaning that their May 17th match against Stade de Reims at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy will be David’s last in club colours.
After spending five seasons with the club, playing 231 matches and scoring 109 goals, he’ll leave as a Lille legend, standing as one of the best to have represented Les Dogues. A club that has been home to players such as Eden Hazard, Victor Osimhen, Mike Maignan, Rafael Lẽao and many others over the years, David can leave knowing that, given what he’s done for the club over his five seasons, he will have cemented himself as a special figure at the club.
In fact, given that Lille is typically a transition club for most players, who rarely spend more than two or three years in the city before moving on, David can say that he truly gave everything to the team in his five-year stint, during which they won the 2020-2021 Ligue 1 title and 2021-2022 French Super Cup.
Now, however, big things await David, who will now become the hottest free agent in world football, as it’s not often that players with his resume become available at just 25 years of age. Typically, you have to pay handsomely to acquire a player like this, but one lucky team will be able to bring him in without having to pay a transfer fee - although they might have to make up for that by offering a strong salary package.
Naturally, given what he’s accomplished, there will be no shortage of suitors for David, and the rumour mill has shown that, with top sides in England, Spain, Germany and Italy all reportedly vying for his services. 
With that in mind, however, it leads to an important point - what will they be getting out of David? And, more specifically, how has he grown in his five years at Lille, allowing him to leave a far different player than he was when he arrived from Belgian side KAA Gent?
The big one, of course, is his goalscoring. Lille knew they were signing someone who could put the ball in the back of the net, as he scored 18 goals in 27 Jupiler Pro League games to claim the JPL’s Golden Boot in his final season with Gent in 2019-2020, while also chipping in with three goals in seven Europa League games.
Having just sold Victor Osimhen to Napoli that summer, they were hoping David could step up and replace the 13 goals and five assists Osimhen scored in his lone Ligue 1 season with Lille, coming as part of a year where he scored 18 goals and six assists in all competitions (including two goals in five Champions League appearances).
David immediately stepped up and filled that void in year one, scoring exactly 13 goals and adding three assists as Lille won the Ligue 1 title in his first year, becoming one of the most unlikely champions in French history. Given that they’re the only team not named Paris Saint-Germain to win a Ligue 1 title in the past eight seasons, with them and AS Monaco the only sides not named PSG to win a title since 2012-2013, it was a remarkable effort from David in his debut season, in which his 13 goals were tied for 12th in Ligue 1, and were second on Lille behind Burak Yilmaz’s remarkable 16 goal haul.
Especially given that he didn’t score his first Ligue 1 goal until game #11 in 2020-2021, and had just two goals in his first 25 appearances with the club in all competitions, his 13 goals stand out even more as he stepped up right as Lille faced the hardest part of their title surge despite being in his debut campaign. After there were worries that Lille’s record transfer had completely flopped in year one, he turned things around quickly, and that’s a credit to his mentality.
#CanMNT star Jonathan David confirms his decision to leave Lille OSC this summer ✨
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) May 14, 2025
109 goals 🎯
231 appearances 👋
1x Ligue 1 title 🇫🇷
1x Trophée des Champions 🏆 https://t.co/KiXfqWMqk0
Yet, that debut year was only just a hint of what was to come from David, who followed that up by scoring 15 Ligue 1 goals in 2021-2022 (along with three in the Champions League), 24 Ligue 1 goals in 2022-2023, 19 Ligue 1 goals in 2023-2024, and so far has 16 Ligue 1 goals in 2024-2025 (along with nine in the Champions League) with one game to go.
For context, Jonathan David is one of just six players to score at least 13 goals in a top-five league in each of the last five years, joining Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, Robert Lewandowski and Mo Salah on that list, which is quite the company to share.
Not only that, but he is one of just 22 players to have a season with 24 or more goals in the top-five leagues over the past five years, too, and is one of eight players to have three seasons with at least 16 goals and four assists in a top-five league over the past five years.
Furthermore, his haul of 10 goals in the Champions League group stage and knockout stages from Lille’s two forays into that competition makes him one of 37 who have scored 10 or more goals in that stage of the UCL over the past five years, which is impressive given that he’s only played in that stage of the competition 18 times.
Lastly, his 87 Ligue 1 goals in the past five years put him at 7th among forwards in the top five leagues across that span, only behind Robert Lewandowski (143), Kylian Mbappé (139), Erling Haaland (133), Harry Kane (131), Mo Salah (110) and Lautaro Martínez (95).
Jonathan David levels it for Lille at Anfield 🇨🇦🫡
— DAZN Canada (@DAZN_CA) January 21, 2025
📺 Watch the #UCL live on DAZN pic.twitter.com/kaLs8ynz1E
Given that he’s been on a team that has finished fifth in the table on average over his five seasons in France, scoring just 55.8 goals per season on average, it makes it impressive that he’s with company like that, as those are the leading attackers on the top teams in Europe.
Of course, some will argue that David’s numbers have been inflated by the level of competition he’s played at, but he did a good job of putting those arguments to rest with his play in the Champions League this year, where he scored two goals to help Lille qualify for the tournament, before chipping in with seven goals in 10 games as Lille fell in the Round of 16.
With goals against Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund, he showed that he can step up and deliver against top sides, having also scored once against eventual UCL finalists PSG in Ligue 1 action this year (the fifth time in 12 games he’s scored against them).
Yet, that’s been the biggest thing about this year for David. As his stats over the last five years have shown, he’s been one of the best strikers in the world, but it feels like this year has been the first one where he’s truly felt like he’s belonged in that group, thanks to his performances on the biggest stage and against the biggest clubs.
Not only that, but he’s done so as the clear driving force for this Lille side - his 25 goals in all competitions are 17 goals ahead of his next best teammate with eight, while his 12 assists are six ahead of his next best teammate with six, and his 37 goal contributions are 25 ahead of his next best teammate with 12. A luxury that a lot of those aforementioned names have is that they’ve got at least one or multiple teammates who can score or assist at a similar rate - David simply didn’t have that luxury this season. 
That level of performance couldn’t have been timed any better by him, however, as there have been doubts over whether or not he could make that jump towards being an elite attacker, which is why he didn’t move on from Lille earlier, with teams hesitating over whether to pay the sort of fee a striker of his calibre typically commands - now, those hesitations will be gone, leaving them to get in a bidding war over him as a free agent.
What’s key about that? As those who have watched David closely will know, David’s game is so much more than about scoring goals.
It’s easy to forget that when he arrived from Gent, he’d played as a winger, #10 and even a #8 for the club, as he’s adept at playing deeper on the field, helping stay involved in the play and creating chances for his teammates.
Those skills haven’t gone away, even as he’s stepped up and gotten used to the line for Lille, meaning that whoever is signing him is getting someone who will be just as adept at being the final piece for attacks as he is creating them, too.
That puts him in a special category, which is reflected by some of his closest statistical comparables from the last 365 days on FBRef, a list that includes noted dual-attacking threats such as Harry Kane, Julián Álvarez and Marcus Thuram.
Now, it’ll be exciting to see what David does at his next club, where he can look to further cement his status as one of the top forwards in the world, and perhaps even take that next step towards becoming one of the top players, period, perhaps one who could earn a nomination to the shortlist of a Ballon D’Or. Given what he’s done on a Lille team with less support, one can only imagine what he’d do at clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Napoli, Barcelona or others, where he’d have the support of elite talent around him.
It won’t be easy to take that step into the truly elite, no doubt, but given what he’s accomplished at 25, it’s not an unrealistic jump, either, and that’s a credit to the work he’s put in at Lille. 
Therefore, as he gets set for his next move, one that could end up defining a legacy as a player, it’s important to reflect on the foundation he’s set for himself at Lille, showing why this week is so special for him.
Plus, he has the chance to give his club a pretty special send-off gift, too, as they remain in the race to earn a berth in the Champions League in 2025-2026, which would mark the first time since 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 that they qualify for Europe’s top competition in consecutive years.
It won’t be easy, as they’ll need some help, but even if it doesn’t go their way, they’re in a strong position to qualify for the Europa League, which wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize, either.
Because of that, look for David to end his time with Lille on a high note, allowing him to close out this five-year chapter in style, while setting himself up nicely for what’s to come.
