Real Madrid Transfer News Roundup: Erling Haaland plan, interest in Liverpool defender

Real Madrid want Ligue 1’s leading goal-scorer

For another year running, Kylian Mbappe, the dream target of Real Madrid, is the best player in Ligue 1. He has thoroughly outshined Neymar and Lionel Messi on the PSG superteam that isn’t quite a superteam right now.

But Mbappe is not the leading goal-scorer in Ligue 1. That honor belongs to Jonathan David, whose 12 goals have been the saving grace for Lille. Les Dogues are only eighth in the table, behind Nantes on goal differential, after a miracle title win last season. But David has been a revelation in front of goal.

According to MARCA, Real Madrid is interested in the 21-year-old Canadian, making this the biggest report linking David to Los Blancos after there had previously been only whispers. David, per his agent, will be leaving Lille after the current season.

Would David start for Real? Probably not, especially with Los Blancos heavily interested in two even better players, Erling Haaland and Mbappe. But if Los Merengues strike out on Haaland and/or David is OK with fighting for a starting spot as a key rotation player, this move is not impossible. I would not cause it plausible, but I would call it possible in the transfer market.

David is a talented striker, but with less than a key pass per game and a dribble completed per game in Ligue 1 this season, he still has work to do when it comes to his all-around game. As Karim Benzema has shown us, a Real Madrid No. 9 needs to do a lot more than just score goals, whereas a Lille striker is only expected to score.