Jonathan David’s time at Juventus is drawing inexorably to a close — but the transfer market has not made it easy. A World Cup that promised to reignite interest in the Canadian striker ended as a profound disappointment. Three goals in five appearances sounds reasonable on paper; in reality, every single one came against Qatar. In the four remaining matches, David drew a complete blank and delivered performances that Tuttosport journalist Nicolò Schira describes bluntly as “insufficient.” The tournament that Juventus hoped would generate a flood of offers has instead produced a trickle of enquiries and a market that remains lukewarm.
The Contract That Narrows the Field
The fundamental difficulty is financial. David earns €6 million per year plus up to €2 million in bonuses and is contracted to Juventus until 2030 with an option for a further season. Finding a club willing to absorb those wages in full, without any contribution from Juventus to ease the transition, is proving extremely challenging. The pool of realistic suitors is narrow — limited, in practice, to clubs from the Premier League or Ligue 1 who can match his financial expectations and offer a platform he considers worthy of his ambitions.
Turkey has already been crossed off the list. Trabzonspor made an approach — motivated by their upcoming Champions League preliminary rounds — but David dismissed the overture without hesitation. He does not consider the Turkish Super Lig a destination befitting his career ambitions, and no amount of financial sweetening from that quarter is likely to change his view.
Paris FC: Genuine Interest Taking Shape
The most concrete emerging possibility is a return to France, the country where David established himself as one of Europe’s most lethal strikers during his years at Lille. According to Schira, Paris FC — the ambitious Ligue 1 club bankrolled by significant investment — have been approached by an intermediary who has proposed David as a high-quality addition to their attack. Initial reactions in the French capital have been positive, and the situation has moved swiftly from speculation to genuine preliminary enquiry. Should those conversations develop into formal negotiations, a return to French football — where David is well-known, deeply respected, and comfortable — would represent the path of least resistance for all parties.
Juventus’s asking price is €20-30 million — a figure that would generate a meaningful capital gain on the club’s balance sheet and contribute meaningfully to the €100 million target Carnevali has committed to reaching by June 2027.
Openda: Lens Interested — But Want Wage Subsidy
On the parallel outgoing front, Lois Openda’s situation continues to develop at a similarly measured pace. The latest club to make enquiries is Lens — the French side where the Belgian striker made his name before his move to RB Leipzig. The interest, however, comes with a significant caveat: Lens are only willing to consider a loan arrangement, and they would additionally need Juventus to contribute towards Openda’s wages — a condition that reflects the Belgian’s salary level and the financial constraints of a club of Lens’s resources.
Whether Juventus would agree to subsidise a loan in this way is unclear. The club’s general preference under Carnevali is for clean, straightforward transactions without financial complications — but the priority of clearing Openda from the wage bill before the season begins may yet make a degree of compromise worthwhile. For a player who Spalletti has already concluded will never be part of his plans, any resolution — even an imperfect one — is preferable to another season of parallel existence at the Continassa.
