Nottingham Forest have been heavily linked with a move for Liam Delap in the summer, but one striker with Champions League pedigree could be an opportunity the club cannot ignore.
Forest will prioritise signing a striker in the summer as an alternative to Chris Wood, a crucial move given next season’s European qualification.
Amongst the targets, Forest are interested in Delap given his £30m relegation release clause at Ipswich Town, but Forest’s links with Yoane Wissa haven’t quite cooled off yet either.
However, Evangelos Marinakis’ ambition means that anything feels possible this summer, potentially meaning that Forest should ignore Delap and focus all efforts on a striker who has become available for free.
Photo by ANP via Getty Images
Photo by ANP via Getty Images
Nottingham Forest should target free agent Jonathan David
It has been reported that Forest will spend serious money in the summer, but there are always cheaper deals that make sense, and a potential move for Lille’s Jonathan David certainly falls into that category.
After much speculation, David has announced that he will leave the French side at the end of the season after five seasons at the club, a period in which he won the Ligue 1 title with Lille.
🚨 Official: Jonathan David confirms he’s leaving Lille as free agent at the end of the current season.
David has a formal proposal on the table from Napoli to join on free transfer; deal not sealed yet. 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/FrtDkawAXT
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 14, 2025
View Tweet
MORE FOREST STORIES
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Canadian marksman has an offer on the table from Italian giants Napoli to join them at the end of the season, but without a deal signed, Forest could well have a chance to convince David of a move to the City Ground.
Delap will remain on the radar for the Reds, but it’s hard to ignore the quality of David’s remarkable numbers as a target that would truly level up the Forest squad.
Jonathan David would be a star for Nottingham Forest
Bryan Mbeumo is an ambitious target for Forest for the summer, but even the Brentford star cannot compare with the incredible figures David has produced for Lille this season.
Statistic Jonathan David this season
Goals 25
Assists 12
Shots on target per 90 1.27
Chances created per 90 1.30
Dribble success % 51.3%
Jonathan David for Lille this season
Equally clinical as he is creative, David’s 12 assists are a stat with which a striker like Wood simply couldn’t compare, as the Canadian creates 1.30 chances per 90.
His shots on target per 90 show that he doesn’t need too many chances to score either, finding the target 1.27 times per game. David can also create for himself with a respectable dribbling success percentage as well.
The move would certainly be ambitious, but Marinakis only deals in ambition, so a bid for David’s services should be one of his summer priorities.