French football expert Jonathan Johnson has stated that there could be doubts over the future of three of Lille’s most important players in the coming months.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Johnson explained that Jonathan David, Edon Zhegrova and Leny Yoro could be three names to watch, most likely in the summer, rather than in the middle of the season.
However, Johnson did also suggest that Yoro could be one to agree a move early, perhaps finalising something for next season and remaining with Lille until then, giving them the opportunity to raise some important funds but without losing an important part of their squad.
Fabrizio Romano has linked Yoro, the talented young French centre-back, with Manchester United, so this could be encouraging news for the Red Devils if they do decide to step up their interest.
David is another fine player who has impressed in Ligue 1 for some time, and Johnson says there is likely to still be interest in the Canada international after his recent revival.
“Jonathan David’s form has picked up again after a bit of a dip, and my understanding is he’s still someone who’s very much on the radar of a number of top clubs across Europe, Premier League clubs included,” Johnson said.
“It’s funny, something I’ve observed before is that David seems to come into form just in time for the transfer window – there’s so often this cycle where clubs start to show an interest in him and his price goes up, and to be honest his price tag at the beginning was probably too high, just after he helped Lille win the Ligue 1 title.
“It’s been difficult for clubs to meet the asking price set by Lille, though they were probably more realistic with it last summer. We’re probably now getting close to seeing David leave Lille in the next six months or so. I don’t think it will be this month, though, I don’t think Lille will let any of their star players leave in the middle of the season.
“One exception could Leny Yoro – my understanding is Lille could accept permanent bids for him as long as he stayed there until the end of the season, similarly to Chelsea’s deal with Malo Gusto last year. But in terms of allowing a source of goals like David to leave now, I think they’d find it hard to replace him, so I see more logic in him moving on in the summer.”
He added: “It’s a tricky window Lille, because Edon Zhegrova is also attracting a lot of interest from around Europe. So that’s three of their most important players on the radar of top clubs and it’s a tricky one for them to navigate, to work out who, if any of them, they can afford to move on.
“Yoro staying would be of a huge benefit to Lille, but it might also suit them if they can bring in some money for him ahead of the summer, if that opportunity arises. For David and Zhegrova, though, it’s more likely that they’ll move in the summer rather than in this window.”