The summer signing of Jonathan David has not worked out as well as the Juventus new-look front office nor the player himself has hoped. A player who arrived in Turin with a very good résumé from his time in France has struggled to find those same heights over the course of his first season in Serie A, with his lack of goals being the thing that has dominated any David-related conversation rather than the goals he’s scored.
We’re now hearing the first whispers that the first season in Italy might be
his only one.
According to Italian transfer reporter Nicolo Schira in Monday’s edition of Tuttosport, Juventus are starting to explore potential ways to offload David this coming summer and try to take advantage of any opportunities they may have regardless of the Canadian striker’s tough 2025-26 season. That could equate to a return to Ligue 1 in France, with Olympique de Marseille reportedly having interest in signing David, a player who used to haunt them during his time with Lille. Schira also says that multiple Premier League clubs could also be in the mix for David if he is to truly be on the market this summer, a transfer window in which Juventus’ striker department looks to again have plenty of changes in store.
David currently has a contract with Juventus through 2030 and is earning a reported €6 million net per season, one of the highest at the club.
This probably doesn’t come much as a surprise to some considering the troubles that David has had for much of this season. For the early months it was just chalked up to a player adjusting to a new league and a new system. Then that system changed along with the manager at the beginning of November. David looked to be turning a corner at the start of the new year, but has unfortunately looked more like the beginning of the season in recent weeks.
David hasn’t scored a goal since Juventus’ win over Parma on Feb. 1.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, that had been the last time Juve actually won a game in Serie A.
But with David having scored just five goals in 28 appearances in Serie A this season, the rumors about his future at Juventus seem like they’re only going to be pick up steam from here. Doubts about where he fits into Luciano Spalletti’s plans beyond this season will probably be going along the same path, too. And that is all at the same time where it actually looks like Dusan Vlahovic could actually sign a contract extension at Juventus — which is definitely something I was not expecting to type a few months ago.
Another big aspect is the chance for Juventus to actually turn a profit on the David move — which, as you would expect, could be money the club could use to bring in somebody to take David’s spot on the roster. (Same goes for Loïs Openda, who is not expected to stay at Juve this summer despite the likelihood of his deal becoming permanent after the season.) Tuttosport points to Juve’s relationship with Marseille and last summer’s deal for Timothy Weah as something that could prove to be useful in trying to offload David a year later.
