Jonathan David: Lille striker faces Chelsea with Europe's biggest clubs watching

Jonathan David's personality is as unassuming as the route he took into professional football. While he is not one to shout about himself, the 22-year-old Canada striker has taken the many challenges he has faced in his career in his stride.

Born in New York, David moved to Haiti aged three before his parents emigrated to Ottawa three years later. There, he made the first of several good decisions when he joined local club Ottawa Gloucester Hornets at the age of nine.

There was no meticulous development at an academy of a Major League Soccer team, despite there being interest from all three in Canada. He stayed with the club until he was 16 despite being courted by Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact.

After seven years with the Hornets he then took a giant leap, crossing the Atlantic to join Belgian club Gent. He impressed there, leading to a move to upwardly mobile French club Lille in 2020.

His rise has continued in Ligue 1, where he is established as one of the most dangerous forwards in the country. So, when he faces Chelsea in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday, he will do so as a striker who is attracting attention from some of the continent's biggest clubs.

Facing the reigning European champions is another step in David's seemingly inexorable rise to the very top, and while he shows none of the brashness that sometimes surrounds elite players, he does not lack self-belief.

He never has. The shy youngster was telling his youth coaches from an early age that he intended to play in Europe.

Even that confident young striker might have been pleasantly surprised had he been told back then that he was going to play a key part in winning one of the continent's major league titles so early in his career.

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