Olivier Létang has spoken on RMC
Lille president slams the door on Barça with Jonathan David
The French manager has ruled out the option of selling his star player in winter
Jonathan David is one of the most talked about footballers in recent weeks. His great performance at Lille has not gone unnoticed by anyone, much less when it was learned that his contract expires this summer. FC Barcelona is keeping an eye on his situation and the player has publicly declared his desire to wear the Blaugrana. However, Lille president Olivier Létang has not given up on the Canadian striker.
The president of Lille takes the microphone
Olivier Létang was invited by RMC to their podcast L'After Foot last Wednesday. There he spoke about the current situation of Lille, about its ownership and sporting moment among other topics. He also had no qualms about talking about Jonathan David, the team's star and third top scorer in Ligue 1.
"Jonathan's (David) situation is super simple. We are very happy to have him with us," the manager began by saying. "Last season, he had one year left on his contract. We were able to qualify for the Champions League. When you have a boy who scores between 20 and 25 goals per season and does the job he does for the club, you don't have the obligation to sell him. We have the ability to say that he can stay. We had it very clear from the start, we thought about the athlete and there was no offer," said Létang.
The words of the French president demonstrate the importance of the Canadian in Lille. He has been in the city for 4 years, during which time he has scored 97 goals in 201 games. However, Olivier prefers to risk him leaving for free than to write him off in the winter: "He will not leave in January. He will stay with us because he is an important player. He will stay until May because we have objectives."
Letang does not rule out a renewal
"When you have a player who scores between 20 and 25 goals and qualifies you for the Champions League at the end of the season, that makes up for a transfer that doesn't happen. He can also renew his contract with the club, even if that means leaving next summer to leave something for the club", explained the president of Lille for not selling Jonathan David. He prefers to keep him for 6 more months and have him go for free than to lose him early; although he doesn't rule out the possibility of him renewing.
The Brooklyn-born player has played 19 games this season, in which he has scored 13 goals (one goal every 112') and has made 2 assists. He is valued at 45 million euros on the specialist portal Transfermarkt. Barça could get a bargain on the market if they manage to convince him to come for free, with the factor that he has openly declared himself a culé in an interview with The Athletic.
