Arsenal: Jonathan David admission raises hope

Jonathan David has admitted that he wants to play in the Premier League. That gives Arsenal hope that a transfer can be completed, which is very dangerous indeed.

As every Arsenal fan will tell you, hope is a very dangerous thing. The Gunners are masters at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, on and off the pitch. A team full of potential that produces so little in actual success, the club is supremely brilliant at underwhelming and disappointing.

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This happens most excruciatingly in the transfer window. How many great players have been linked with a move to north London only for it to fall flat? How many elite talents did Arsene Wenger try and fail to sign? What about the summers of no spending only to then, in a panic, splash the cash in dying days? Or the summer in which only a goalkeeper was signed with the title was within reach.

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If there is anything that Arsenal are brilliant at, it is failing to master the transfer window despite always offering the tantalising hope that this year will be different. Even last summer, the club broke their transfer record, spent more money in a summer window than they ever have, and still came away without a world-class contributor or player.

Inevitably, fans have grown infuriated with the club’s consistent failures. In fact, they have come to accept it, thrive in it, almost, sharing jokes at the simultaneously hopeful and hopeless prospects.

And this summer, there is one player that has been on many fans’ lips as an ideal signing: KAA Gent centre-forward, Jonathan David.

The 20-year-old has ripped up the Belgian league this season, scoring 18 goals and adding eight assists in 27 Juniper Pro League games. He is the current top-scorer in the division, despite oftentimes playing as a central attacking midfielder in behind two striker, and Gent currently sit second in the table. And now he has admitted that he would like to play in the Premier League:

Speaking to Guardian, David, when asked about whether he pays much attention to the swirling transfer rumours regarding his future, said:

"“I don’t really focus on that or think much about it. Right now I’m playing almost every minute of every game and that has really helped me get to the level that I need to be. I just need to take a good step where I can make sure I am getting enough time on the pitch to keep developing. I don’t want to go somewhere and just stay on the bench so it’s about taking the right step. I want to become one of the best strikers in the world. That’s my goal. The Premier League is the best in the world and most competitive so obviously that is somewhere I would love to play in the future.”"

The admission, then, offers hope that Arsenal could sign what many believe to an ideal replacement for Mesut Ozil or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. David provides a very able and needed solution to a pressing issue. And now he wants to join the Premier League. This can only end in heartbreak.