July 1 is a special date in the football calendar because it’s the day many contracts expire and free agency kicks in. One of the most desirable players about to hit the transfer market is Lille striker Jonathan David but despite being admired by multiple Premier League clubs his next destination may lie elsewhere.
The 25-year-old has been linked with just about every top-flight club in England including Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and West Ham during the last 18 months.
That’s because he possesses one of the most sought-after commodities in the game which is the ability to score on a regular basis, which in his case is almost a goal every other game.
He has hit the net 109 times for Lille in 232 matches, a record boosted by 25 goals in 43 games last season, so it is no surprise scouts from the English powerhouses were watching his progress on a regular basis.
David also proved he can cut it on the international stage by scoring 35 times in 66 games for Canada but he has been reportedly priced out of the range of many clubs because of wage demands which are estimated to be around £5million plus bonuses every year with commission fees of around £13m for his agents.
Those figures are big hits against the complex web of the beautiful game’s financial regulations and it now seems his remarkable talents will be on show with Juventus next season as they are apparently close to agreeing terms.
Juve desperately need a top-quality marksman and now have cash to burn after their account has been boosted by nearly £10m which has been raked in for reaching the FIFA Club World Cup quarter-finals.
The Serie A giants risk losing striker Dusan Vlahovic, who has yet to agree a new contract, and have yet to agree terms to turn Randal Kolo Muani’s loan move from Paris Saint-Germain into a permanent one.
Although the Old Lady have interest in Sporting star Viktor Gyokeres, who is on the radar of Manchester United and Arsenal among others, it appears David is their prime target and they are 4/5 with Bet Victor to sign the feared forward while a move to any Turkish club is 7/2 with the same firm.
Inter Milan are 10/1 to hijack the deal with bet365, who offer 40/1 on each of the Premier League clubs interested in him actually pulling off the signing.
Leicester manager odds
Leicester City need a new manager after parting company with Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Sean Dyche is the 5/4 favourite to take the job at the King Power Stadium.
Michael Carrick, who recently left Middlesbrough, is 8/1 with the same firm who have priced former Wolves and Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil at the same odds while Liam Rosenoir, doing a terrific job at Strasbourg, is interesting at 16/1 with Hills.
The best man for the job, however, would surely be Chris Wilder who just missed out on automatic promotion back to the Premier League with Sheffield United last term before their agonising play-off final defeat to Sunderland.
The Blades finished third with 90 points which would have been enough for them to be in the top two in eight of the previous ten seasons and he took the Yorkshire club to the top flight after a successful 2022/23 campaign so he’s worth a bet on becoming the Foxes next manager at 22/1 with Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet.
Wimbledon odds
Phew, what a scorcher! Temperatures are expected to exceed 30C in London and the battles to win the men’s and women’s singles titles are going to be even hotter.
This column has already flagged up Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova to be this year’s king and queen of Centre Court and the reigning men’s champion from Spain is 10/11 with Sporting Index and SpreadEx to begin the defence of his crown by beating Fabio Fognini by over 9.5 games.
British duo Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter are both in action on day one. Raducanu is 11/10 with BoyleSports to beat fellow Brit Mingge Xu by more than 5.5 games while Boulter is 6/4 with William Hill, bet365 and Betfred to beat Paula Bodosa with a passionate, patriotic home crowd urging her on.
Harriet Dart can also have fans dashing to celebrate a British victory with Pimm’s and strawberries and cream by beating Dalma Galfi at 5/6 with Bet Victor.