Canadian soccer star Jonathan David of Ottawa, Ontario is now going to play professional soccer in Spain. David will join La Liga according to Rogers Sportsnet, and will specifically be with Atletico Madrid after being on loan from Juventus of Serie A.
Atletico Madrid will be the fourth professional football team that David will have played for. A striker, David, was previously with Belgium’s Gent for three years from 2018 to 2020, France’s Lille for six years from 2020 to 2025, and Italy’s Juventus for one season from 2025 to 2026. In 274 games, David has 123 goals. However, there were sone concerns regarding his lack of production this past season for Juventus, as he only scored six times in 36 games.
It is on the international side where David has been instrumental. He is Canada’s all-time leading goal scorer with 42 goals. David has 10 more goals than Southampton forward Cyle Larin of Brampton, Ontario, who has 32 goals. At the FIFA World Cup this past summer, David had three goals in five games. All three goals came in the same game as David recorded a hat trick in a 6-0 Canada win over Qatar at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was Canada’s first ever win in World Cup history.
David is now the fourth Canadian player to be part of La Liga. Full-back Tajon Buchanan of Brampton, central midfielder Nathan Saliba of Longueuil, Quebec and forward Tani Oluwaseyi of Mississauga, Ontario play for Villarreal.
In the spring, I wrote Jonathan David’s biography for the Canadian Encyclopedia. Here is the link.
