Thierry Henry has explained the type of striker Chelsea could be signing in the summer, with Jonathan David reportedly on the Blues' radar. The 23-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League for a while now as he continues to impress for Lille.
He once looked set to join Arsenal but, after signing Gabriel Jesus in the summer instead, their interest seems to have fizzled out now. football.london understands that Edu held meetings with David's representatives back in December 2021, but a switch failed to materialise.
According to French outlet L'Equipe, Chelsea are joined by Manchester United and Tottenham in the race to sign the Canada international. The Blues are still yet to find a worthy heir to Didier Drogba's throne, with only Diego Costa and Olivier Giroud coming close to fulfilling the Ivorian's duties.
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Chelsea have experimented with the likes of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but none have enjoyed much success. While David may not be as physically imposing in stature as Drogba, who stands at 6'2", Thierry Henry has explained what the Canadian offers.
Speaking on CBS Sports earlier this year, the Arsenal legend said: "When you have a player like Jonathan David, who runs the way he does, in behind. His directness. Don’t ask him to come to play or assist because he has none this season.
"If he sees the centre-back dropping, then he will go in behind. But as soon as he sees there is a gap, he will run and he is also pretty strong too and he loves contacts."
Ahead of the World Cup, the Canada manager dived deeper into what makes David such a special striker. Speaking to talkSPORT, John Herdman said: "Jonathan is one of those silent assassins. He’s very clued up tactically and that’s what I really enjoy about Jonathan, he really wants to get into the details of the game and understand the pressing tactics.
"The forwards at times want to understand other elements, he knows he’s going to lead that defensive line and will get into the details of that with you. For him, he’s a quiet player around the environment and a quiet presence and has this killer instinct.
"Tactically very organised and very aware, but with that instinct to be able to ghost into a penalty area and do what he does best and that is score. To have a player of that quality who can take that moment, it really makes a difference. One who does the work excites me and I know the players really respect that."
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