The writing is on the wall for the Canada international Jonathan David, who only arrived with the Turin titans in July. The 25-year-old will be up for grabs in the winter transfer, with the potential to earn Juventus big bucks.
David, who left leading Ligue 1 outfit LOSC Lille after his contract expired at the end of June, cost Juve nothing to sign apart his paying his representatives.
With no transfer fee for the New York-born striker, his representatives negotiated a lucrative five-year contract with the Bianconeri. David is now the second highest paid player at the club, behind Serie A’s top earner Dusan Vlahovic.
Yet his return this term has made him a very expensive addition to an arguably lightweight squad. David has scored just once this season, kicking off his Juventus career with a goal against Parma on his Serie A debut in August.
Despite being favored to spearhead the attack by Igor Tudor, David went on a dismal run in front of goal and his confidence has been so sapped that his international career has nose-dived too.
Tudor paid the price for a plethora of problems on the pitch, which included a staggering 394 minutes without a goal before the club hierarchy pulled the trigger to sack him for a second time.
With the one-dimensional tactics from Tudor, who also got the boot by Juventus when assistant manager to Andrea Pirlo, there was confusion and a lack of motivation across the squad.
The Croatian tactician stuck to his guns with his favored three-player defense and a lone target man, which made Juve predictable. Tudor’s second-half chopping and changing were bizarre, frequently resulting in his side looking perplexed and lacking cohesion.
Even though David’s contributions were deteriorating, Tudor stuck with the renowned goal poacher who can create scoring opportunities when stuck in tight spaces.
After Tudor was given the boot, David has failed to start any of the three games but came close to finding the back of the net during stoppage time in his last outing.
Juventus Next Gen head coach Massimo Brambilla took over as the Bianconeri’s interim coach for one match. He shook things up with a two-pronged attack that did not include, kicking off with summer signing Lois Openda and Juve’s prolific scorer Vlahovic.
This new-look line-up, which included skipper Manuel Locatelli as a sweeper, ended the eight-match winless run by sweeping past Udinese with conviction.
Spalletti has his favorites
Former Napoli savior Luciano Spalletti was swiftly appointed to the hot-seat. As his ill-fated role as Italy manager ending after using only one striker, and Juve having purred under Brambilla’s tactical approach, it was a shock to witness just Vlahovic starting for Spalletti’s back-to-back games.
Juve struggled to collect maximum points at Cremonese despite having dominated the first half, as they were second best after the turnaround.
Spalletti stuck with the same 3-4-2-1 formation for the visit of Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon. Although Juventus were in cruise control, they were not ruthless enough in front of goal.
David wasted his glorious chance
Vlahovic tapped home but again fluffed chances to score. Late sub David came close to adding his second goal for the fallen Italian giants, but shotstopper Rui Silva saved his stoppage time header.
David has made 13 appearances for Juventus this campaign, but being a regular substitute means that his name will be on the winter transfer list. His entourage have recently been in contact with European clubs and discussed a potential January departure.
Tottenham Hotspur are long-term admirers of David, and there’s been sudden interest from cash-rich Chelsea. Both sides could contemplate a winter swoop.
Bayern Munich are monitoring three Juventus forwards, which includes David, as Harry Kane’s future next summer remains uncertain.
Little test in internationals
David has bagged 37 goals from 71 internationals, but is only involved in friendlies as Canada have earned an automatic berth to next year’s FIFA World Cup finals as co-hosts.
If he is going to be third choice striker, and only have a bit-part role under Spalletti, then it would suit all parties to sell David and earn a decent sum of at least €32 million (US$36.9m) for the outcast.
With former Poland marksman Arkadiusz Milik still sidelined for over a season because of a spate of injuries, his return to first-team action could coincide with David’s departure.
Although there remains a slim chance of bringing Real Madrid’s 19-year-old Brazilian striker Endrick on loan to replace David. Much depends on Openda and when he will finally break his duck at Juve.