It is probably time for us to face reality on transfer of Lille striker Jonathan David to Newcastle United

One of the biggest transfer battles this summer will be over who gets to sign free agent Jonathan David when he leaves Lille upon the expiration of his contract.

The Canadian striker has confirmed that he will be leaving the Ligue 1 side this summer when his contract expires, but hasn't yet given any solid hints over where his future lies.

Newcastle United have been reported as being one of the clubs keen to sign the prolific forward, but it has always been known that a deal would be difficult to do.

The competition for David's signature will be fierce with top clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Napoli, Liverpool, Chelsea and Bayern Munich among his admirers. Many of which don't have a world-class striker for him to contend with for a place in the starting lineup.

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Jonathan David's agent watched Newcastle beat West Ham in March

This morning, The Chronicle have reported that David's agent was in attendance when Newcastle beat West Ham in March and that he and Paul Mitchell share a good relationship, which is positive news, however between the intense competition and the fact that despite David being a free agent, a deal could still cost Newcastle upwards of £10 million in agent and signing on fees, it's believed it ill be a difficult deal to get over the line.

That is the problem with deals for 'free agents', they're never free. Players' representatives whack on extraordinary fees, and the player's own signing-on bonus is usually massively inflated, making the deal far from 'free'.

So, between the money, the competition and the fact that Jonathan David will be very aware that he'd come here as second fiddle to Alexander Isak, a move to Newcastle seems unlikely. With that in mind, The Chronicle are reporting that Newcastle's interest has cooled.

We're admitting defeat on the pursuit of Jonathan David

We've been trying to keep the dream alive for months, but it's probably time to face facts: Jonathan David will not be a Newcastle United player next season.

While a striker is a priority for Newcastle this summer, it's believed to be fourth on the list behind a central defender, a right winger and a goalkeeper, so we weren't really likely to go out and sign a £150,000-a-week forward as backup for Isak.

It was a fun dream while it lasted, but it's time to get serious, and now we need to look for realistic striker targets. There's this guy called Chris Wood at Nottingham Forest. He seems canny.