Jonathan David is set to join Juventus on a free transfer after the expiry of his contract at Lille.
Fabrizio Romano reported on X on Wednesday morning: "BREAKING: Jonathan David to Juventus, here we go! Verbal agreement reached overnight on every detail with Canadian striker.
"Long term deal agreed and Jonathan David’s set to travel for medical tests, formal steps to follow.
"Contracts to be checked and signed soon."
David's contract at Lille expired in the summer, making him one of the most in-demand forwards in Europe.
Napoli were expected to sign the Canadian to bolster their attacking options and were as short as 2/7 at the end of May, but it's Juventus who have won the race for his signature.
While David looks like a relatively risk-free investment having bagged 69 goals in his last three campaigns, he will have cost a hefty signing-on fee as a free agent, and the club will now be forced to move players on before they continue reshaping their squad.
Despite his strong goal tally, there is slight cause for concern in the underlying numbers behind the goals with David. The 25-year-old ranked 16th in Ligue 1 for non-penalty xG (npxG) per 90 and 33rd for shots per 90 (minimum 10.0 90s played), both of which are underwhelming for one of the best teams in the division.
While the stats may be slightly concerning, David is a top-quality finisher. Throughout his career, David has out-performed his xG and is a proficient penalty taker, leading to tallies of 13, 15, 24, 19 and 16 across his five Ligue 1 seasons.
It is hoped that arrival of David will trigger something of a turn in fortunes for the Old Lady, who've struggled on and off the pitch in recent years.
After winning Serie A nine years in a row, Juventus have finished fourth, fourth, seventh (when deducted 10 points), third and fourth, while making a series of missteps in the transfer market.
In recent years, the club have signed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Matthijs de Ligt, Dejan Kulusevski, Douglas Costa, Dusan Vlahovic, Federico Chiesa, Teun Koopmeiners for around €425m, losing around €300m whne moving those players on, while neither of Vlahovic nor Koopmeiners, who are still at the club, look like repaying their transfer fees.
That's also ignoring the creative accounting involved in the swap deal between Miralem Pjanic and Arthur Melo, while the Bianconeri have allowed the likes of Dean Huijsen and Nicolo Rovella to leave on cut-price deals.
It's the first summer with Damien Comolli at the helm, with the former director of football at Liverpool tasked with providing the platform for Juventus to return to former glory.
The Old Lady are 9/2 third favourites to win Serie A.
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