Jonathan David: Borussia Dortmund’s answer to the Mario Götze conundrum?

Highly rated Canadian forward Jonathan David is attracting the interest of a number of big clubs. We look at how he could be the perfect signing for Borussia Dortmund.

With the football world coming to a grinding halt last week due to the most recent developments surrounding COVID-19, the vast majority of the world’s leagues have either been suspended entirely or are mostly being played behind closed doors. This lull in football is unfortunate, something that no one truly expected would greet us in the first few months of 2020.

While the situation the world finds itself in is both difficult and uneasy, it is also a time of opportunity and self assessment, for the one thing this situation has afforded us is time to reflect. In this respect, I expect that many clubs will use the time they have been given to focus their efforts on evaluation and plans for improvement for when the beautiful game comes back from its unexpected slumber.

In the case of Borussia Dortmund, many questions await the club and it’s players once we are back to a semblance of normalcy. There is the question of Jadon Sancho’s future. Will the winger decide to stay in Germany for an additional season, or will he allow his head to be turned by one of the English giants that so conspicuously seek to steal him away from the confines of the Westfalenstadion? Then there is the question of Erling Haaland.

With Haaland just moving to Dortmund from RB Salzburg in the January transfer window, you would expect him to stay for a few more years, but  rumors continue to swirl of interest from top clubs, and while I expect these to be swatted away like gnats come the close of the next transfer window, you still have pay attention to them until then, because chances are they’ll keep buzzing around our heads whether we like it or not.

The one question that seems to have gone forgotten is that of Mario Götze’s future. While Götze hasn’t featured prominently for Borussia Dortmund in the last several months, he is effectively Dortmund’s main backup player for both captain Marco Reus and Haaland. As things stand, unless contract talks open with the player, Dortmund stand to lose Götze on a free come the next transfer window. That would leave Dortmund without any true backup to two critical players in their squad, something Dortmund have quickly learned is a dangerous road to travel, especially when it comes to attacking players.

As mentioned, a worst case scenario for Borussia Dortmund is that they will lose Mario Götze on a free, which will mean they will have to dip into the market to find a replacement. Compound this with the financial hit Bundesliga clubs, and clubs around the world are set to take due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, and one can imagine there will be a need for smart, strategic economic decisions will be necessary.

The question then is, what sort of player can Dortmund look to as both a financially sound and sportingly effective answer to the conundrum they now face? The answer: Jonathan David. Gent’s star frontman is a player that can tick all of the boxes Dortmund will be looking at to fill the void left by their prodigal son, should Götze choose to leave the Westfalenstadion for good.