When Jesse Marsch took his first strides into international football, the former Leeds United boss found himself working – at last – with a centre-forward he had hoped to see leading the line on his watch at Elland Road.
During the American’s 12-month stint in West Yorkshire between February 2022 and February 2023, Leeds United certainly pulled off a few eye-catching pieces of business.
Georginio Rutter would become Leeds’ £35 million record signing, just days before Jesse Marsch got the boot. Leeds also spent hefty sums on Brenden Aaronson – a player Marsch had worked with before at Red Bull Salzburg – in addition to Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams, Rasmus Kristensen, Max Wober and Marc Roca. Weston McKennie also joined on loan.
Signings from Feyenoord, Bayern Munich and Juventus, not to mention Salzburg and Leipzig.
Yet, while Marsch certainly cannot put his difficult spell in England down to a lack of backing from above, Lille striker Jonathan David is still the sort of ‘one that got away’ which makes a manager wonder what might have been.
Jesse Marsch wanted Lille striker Jonathan David at Leeds United
Speaking before his Canada side lost 2-0 to Mexico on Thursday – a brace from Fulham striker Raul Jimenez sealing a CONCACAF Nations League victory for El Tri – Marsch paid a glowing tribute to the centre-forward who has scored five international goals under his stewardship.
Jonathan David perhaps the most underrated striker in the game right now.
A man who, despite relentless links with countless Premier League clubs, is about to finish his fifth season in the red shirt of Lille. David, having reached reached a century of goals in France, will be a free-agent this summer. As such, he should not be short of offers with a move to one of Europe’s big-hitters surely arriving at last.
Marsch knows first hand just how much interest there is in the Brooklyn-born 25-year-old. He too tried to sign David at one point.
“I’ve had different clubs call me about Jonathan. The thing I said is that I even tried getting Jonathan at Leeds!” Marsch reveals. “I always liked him as a player and thought very highly of him.
“But, after now coaching him and seeing how intelligent he is in pressing, in goalscoring, he’s even better than I thought and I was someone who rated him very highly!
“He doesn’t really have any weaknesses. He’s athletic, he’s intelligent, good in the air, good with both feet. He can play deeper as a nine-and-a-half, he can play wide… He’s just so smart.
“Very few peoples around the world have his combination of intelligence and talents.”
Marsch thinks Canada star can become a world-class striker
David, who made his name in Belgium with Gent, now has 145 career league goals in 307 games. He is on 23 for the season. The third year in a row in which he has broken the 20-goal barrier.
“I’ve advertised him often as the most intelligent footballer I’ve ever coached,” Marsch added in his pre-Mexico press conference. “His ability to put things to practice, his ability to read in the game, what’s necessary. He’s really clever.”
“He’s a very special personality. He’s very direct and straightforward, and kind of what you see is what you get, which is, I think one of the things that everybody who’s around him really likes and makes him an infectious personality.
“For all of us on the inside of the team here, our belief in the level of striker that he is is that at the highest level, and we all really believe that he can be one of the best in the world, if he’s not already in that category.”
He might not be a truly world-class centre-forward yet, but he’s certainly getting there.
During the 2024/25 Champions League, David scored a winner against Real Madrid, an equaliser against Juventus, and a brace in a 3-1 triumph over Atletico. Only five players – Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, Serhou Guirassy, Harry Kane and former Leeds star Raphinha – have more than his seven UCL goals.
Leeds appear to be prioritising a centre-forward this summer too, with Evann Guessand and Wilson Isidor among those linked so far.
Jesse Marsch says he tried to sign ‘one of the best in the world’ when he was at Leeds United
