Canada striker Jonathan David signs 5-year deal with Juventus

Lille's Jonathan David runs on the pitch during the Europa Conference League round of 16 second leg soccer match between Lille and Sturm Graz, at the Pierre Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d'Ascq, northern France, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthieu Mirville)

MILAN — Canada forward Jonathan David signed a five-year contract with Juventus on Friday.

After his five-year contract at Lille expired, David joined the record 36-time Italian champion on a free transfer, with the lack of an acquisition cost serving to up his salary.

The deal is worth six million euros ($9.61 million) per season, with up to two million euros ($3.8 million) in bonuses, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported.

“Growing up as a kid, I always looked up at a club like Juventus and say, you know, this is one of the top 10 biggest clubs in the world,” David said in an interview posted on the team’s website.

“So for me, today, to be seen here, is an honour. It feels good. Just trying to pave the way for other Canadians that are talented to one day be able to do the same things that I am doing right now.”

David is the first Canadian to play for Juventus.

It’s the first big market move by new Juventus general manager Damien Comolli, who confirmed last month that Igor Tudor will stay on as coach.

Juventus needs firepower up front, with Dusan Vlahovic having fallen out of favour and likely to leave the club.

The 25-year-old David scored 25 goals and provided 12 assists in 49 matches across all competitions for Lille last season. He is also Canada’s all-time leading men’s scorer with 36 goals in 67 appearances.

The move to Juve is just the latest step up for the star forward, who has drawn rave reviews from past and present Canada coaches.

“He’s a special talent,” John Herdman said in 2019. “I think he’s got big things coming.”

“He’s the smartest player I’ve ever coached,” current Canada coach Jesse Marsch said last year. “And so his understanding of what’s happening in the game and how to move around to find the game in the right way, to help the team, I think is at a really high level.

“And the team knows that getting him in the match is really important for us.”

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., David was three months old when his family moved to their native Haiti and six when the family came north to Ottawa. He played for Gloucester Dragons Soccer, Ottawa Gloucester SC and Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club, representing Canada at the under-17 level.

A trial with KAA Gent in Belgium came in 2017 after a scout saw him on video. He went to Belgium twice that year, spending time with the second team before earning a full-time invitation. After finishing high school in Ottawa, he returned to Europe to focus full-time on his soccer.

David had to wait until he turned 18 in January 2018, before he could sign a pro contract.

Asked whether he splurged on anything after signing his new deal, David smiles and shakes his head.

“No, no. I wouldn’t say I’m a big spender,” he said at the time. “I was just pretty happy.”

He scored in his league debut for KAA Gent that August with a late equalizer against Zulte-Waregem as a substitute. And he kept scoring off the bench.

In August 2020, he made the move to France’s Lille for a reported transfer fee of 30 million euros ($46.8 million), which eclipsed Alphonso Davies’ 2018 move to Bayern Munich from the Vancouver Whitecaps.

David went on to score 109 goals in 231 games for Lille, including 25 in 48 appearances last season, reaching the 100-goal milestone for Lille in December when he scored twice in a 3-1 win over Brest in Ligue 1 play.

David made his senior debut for Canada in September 2018 in an 8-0 Nations League qualifying win over the U.S. Virgin Islands. He scored in the 32nd minute to become the youngest player to score for Canada on his debut, then added another five minutes later to become just the fifth to score twice in his first match.

A two-time Canada Soccer Player of the Year (2019 and 2024), David lives up to his nickname of The Iceman. Nothing seems to faze him.

Soft-spoken and unassuming off the pitch, he is in his element on it. David is able to drop back and initiate attacks or finish them. Able to find a crease in opposition defences, he has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time. And when he gets the ball, he knows what to do with it, able to score with both feet or his head.

David’s commitment to Canada was shown at the Gold Cup, where he played substantial minutes despite being out of contract, knowing an injury could derail his big-money move.