Jonathan David: How the Canadian reached 100 goals with Lille

On Friday night, Jonathan David reached the milestone of scoring 100 goals for Lille. We take a look back at his time at the club and his resurgence this season for Les Dogues.

"It's not every day that you score 100 goals for a club. I just feel a great sense of pride," remarked a gleeful Jonathan David during an interview with French TV channel TF1 on Sunday. Two days earlier, the Canadian opened the scoring for Lille against Stade Brestois with a penalty in the 7th minute to mark a century of goals for Les Dogues. It's a historic milestone for the striker, who has achieved the feat in just 206 matches in Lille colours.

David extended his record-breaking evening with a second goal in the 69th minute. With a tally of 11 goals to his name, he is currently the top scorer in Ligue 1 McDonalds and is closing in on LOSC’s all-time top scorer André Stappe, who has netted 112 goals. The 24-year-old has been the key man this season, having scored 48% of Lille's goals in all competitions so far this campaign. 

Jonathan David's Road to Ligue 1 

Born in the United States, David moved to Canada at the age of six where he started playing for several local youth teams in Ottawa. In 2018, he would make the big move over to Europe and sign for Belgian side Gent where he would make his professional debut. After 30 goals in 60 appearances, he moved across the border and signed a five-year-deal at Lille - becoming the most expensive Canadian transfer to date in the process.

It wasn't always easy for David. He had only scored two goals in his first 25 games for the club. Yet, 2021 would come as a turning point for the striker. He netted a winner against PSG and scored against Marseille in a run which eventually saw Les Dogues clinch a surprise league title under Christophe Galtier. That 2020-2021 season saw David score 13 goals on the way to the league title. But that was only the beginning.

As each season since then has gone on, David has only improved. He recorded 19 goals in the 2021-2022 season, making his UEFA Champions League debut in the process. He then worked his way up the Ligue 1 top goalscorer standings each season, reaching a high of 26 goals for the last two seasons in all competitions. Last season in Ligue 1 only Kylian Mbappé had scored more.

This season with Les Dogues

None of that has changed under Bruno Génésio. This campaign has seen David as reliable as ever in Ligue 1 and Europe. In the Champions League he scored a brace against Atlético Madrid, as well as getting on the scoresheet against Juventus and in that famous win over Real Madrid. David will now be aiming to seal the title of Ligue 1 top scorer by the end of the season, but he faces competition from PSG's Bradley Barcola and Marseille's Mason Greenwood. 

“It’s always nice to score against big clubs,” David said in a recent interview with The Athletic. “It’s the best feeling you can have in football. But for me, every goal is important. On the outside, it means a lot more. I could score a hat-trick on the weekend against Le Havre, but I score one goal against Real Madrid and in two, three weeks, that’s the goal people will be talking about.”

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