Manchester United are set to lose out in the race to sign Lille striker Jonathan David at the end of the season, according to reports.

The Canadian international is set to leave his current club when his contract expires in June and he has attracted interest from a whole host of clubs.

However, TBRFootball claim that Barcelona are in “advanced talks” to sign David on a free transfer this summer.

The website believes that the Red Devils, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle, West Ham and Aston Villa had also been in contact with the player and his entourage, along with AC Milan and Juventus.

David has, though, made it clear in the past that Barca would be his “dream” club, having grown up supporting them, so competing with the La Liga giants was always going to be difficult.

United have missed out on a bargain

The fact that David is in such high demand is not a surprise when you look at his record for Lille this campaign. He has scored 20 goals and provided 9 assists in 34 appearances.

When you consider that the forward has only just turned 25 as well, his best years are still ahead of him, so recruiting him on a free would have been a great piece of business for Ruben Amorim’s side. As it is, they will now have to look elsewhere to reinforce their front three.

Adding a striker this summer will be a top priority

Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have struggled to score goals in the Premier League this season, having only found the back of the net 5 times between them.

Amorim doesn’t seem to rate either player based on the fact that he chose a midfielder in Kobbie Mainoo to start ahead of them against Crystal Palace last weekend.

It means that the club are likely to be targeting a new No.9. They could potentially consider a move for Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane. It was revealed this week that the England captain has a pretty low release clause in his contract.

Find out who is in Manchester United’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here