On August 11, 2020, Lille completed the signing of Jonathan David on a five-year contract from Gent for €30 million. The reigning joint-top scorer in Belgian’s top-flight, David initially struggled to cope with the pressure of being the most expensive Canadian player of all time before eventually forming a dynamic duo with Burak Yılmaz in attack. He scored 13 goals in his debut campaign, 11 coming after the turn of the year, as Les Dogues won their first league title in a decade.
By Zach Lowy
At 24 years of age, David has emerged as one of the most consistent strikers in France’s top-flight with 87 goals and 19 assists in 187 appearances for Lille, and he has also served as a trailblazer for younger Canadians looking to make their mark in Europe.
Whilst David, whose contract is set to expire next summer, could be preparing to end his time in France, there are a handful of Canadian players who will be looking to start their time in Ligue 1 off on the right foot. Today, we’re taking a look at the Ligue 1’s new Canadian arrivals.
Ismaël Koné
One and a half years after reaching their first World Cup since 1986, Canada participated in their first-ever Copa América this summer. The Canucks were placed in the same group as current world and South American champions Argentina as well as Chile, who won the tournament in 2015 and 2016, and Peru, who reached the final in 2019. Despite being cast into the Group of Death, Canada managed to do something their fellow 2026 World Cup co-hosts USA and Mexico failed to achieve: reach the knockout round.
Ismaël Koné started alongside Stephen Eustáquio in the double pivot for their first two games, as Canada began the Copa with a 2-0 loss to Argentina before bouncing back with their first-ever Copa win. After dropping to the bench for the following two matches, the 22-year-old regained the starting spot for their semifinal, where Argentina again prevailed 2-0. They ended their tournament in Charlotte, falling behind early on to Uruguay via a corner kick, before quickly giving La Celeste a taste of their own medicine. Moïse Bombito got his head to a corner and lofted it up for what seemed to be a fairly routine save for Sergio Rochet. Instead, Koné was first to it and chiseled home a jaw-dropping bicycle finish with the outside of his boot. Canada would take the lead in the 80th minute as Koné broke forward and juked past an opponent before firing a powerful shot that was parried into the direction of Jonathan David, who made no mistake with the finish. Just when it seemed dead and buried, Luis Suárez levelled proceedings in extra time with his 69th goal for La Celeste, forcing a penalty shootout. Whilst Uruguay were spotless from close range, Koné and Alphonso Davies’ missed proved fatal in Canada’s attempts to win the third-place medal.
Koné stole the show in North Carolina and was FotMob’s highest-rated player (8.6), making 15 recoveries, winning four fouls, registering three interceptions, and coming out on top in eight of his 11 ground duels. It was the kind of performance that would harken a transfer battle, had it not been for the fact that Olympique de Marseille had completed a £15m deal for him two weeks prior.
When it comes to the French-Canadian footballing connection, there are few better equipped than Kevin Nieto. Whilst Koné has left Montreal for France, Nieto, a former video analyst for Ligue 2 side Dunkerque, will be leaving France for Montreal in October. “Koné will face competition from Amine Harit, Valentín Carboni, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, or Azzedine Ounahi, but he has the advantage of being versatile and able to play just as well in a double pivot in front of the central defense as a bit higher up in a number 10 role,” said Nieto.
“He has the work rate to be an impactful box-to-box midfielder near both penalty areas. I think he can be used in offensive transitions, either by positioning himself well between the lines or by driving forward with the ball, as he has the technical ability to do so. He’s a hardworking midfielder but very precise technically, and Roberto De Zerbi likes his midfielders to make a difference through their passing. Koné is capable of being aware of what’s happening around him and distributing the play effectively.”
Thelonius Bair
Having failed to make an appearance in their first five matches of the Copa, Thelonius Bair was given a chance to shine in the third-place match vs. Uruguay, replacing Jonathan Osorio in the 77th minute and suiting up for Canada for just the third time in his life. Three days later, Bair had penned a four-year contract with newly promoted side Auxerre, who paid Motherwell €1.9 million plus €600,000 in potential bonuses.
As opposed to Koné, who left his native Ivory Coast for Canada at the age of 7, Bair spent the entirety of his childhood in Canada and even looked set to become the latest academy talent to break onto the scene for Vancouver Whitecaps after Alphonso Davies. He became a full-fledged first team member midway through the 2019 campaign and quickly cemented his place in the side, prompting the attention of Canada manager John Herdman, who played him in their friendly matches vs. Barbados and Iceland in January 2020. Little did Bair know that he would have to wait another four and a half years before representing the national team again.
Bair finally left Canada in the summer of 2021, spending four months out on loan at HamKam and scoring four goals in 18 appearances en route to winning promotion to Norway’s top-flight. He returned to Canada for the holidays before heading to Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone in January 2022. The lanky 6’3” striker took time to cope with the transition to European football and only registered a goal and three assists in 38 appearances at McDiarmid Park, but he nevertheless became a regular contributor over the course of the 2022/23 campaign. They agreed to part ways and mutually terminate the contract in the summer of 2023, but St Johnstone’s loss was Motherwell’s gain.
He made his debut against Dundee and opened the scoring before halftime in a 1-1 draw, building on his momentum and racking up 15 goals and 6 assists in 41 appearances. Bair’s 21 goal contributions were bettered only by three players in Scotland’s top-flight, and they were enough for Motherwell to finish eight points clear of St Johnstone and comfortably avoid relegation.
Speaking to Scottish football journalist Scott Bradley, I got the lowdown on the 24-year-old Ottawa native. “He bullied the Rangers defense last season in Motherwell’s 2-1 victory at Ibrox – our defense couldn’t get anywhere near him. Technically, he’s very good, a strong forward and clinical in front of goal. If he can do well in a pretty poor Motherwell side scoring that number of goals – just imagine what he’d do in a good side with more quality around him?”
Derek Cornelius
With just weeks to go before their maiden Copa voyage, Canada appointed Jesse Marsch, who became the first American to oversee Les Rouges. He wasn’t quite able to get them clicking on all cylinders in the final third – Canada scored just two goals in their first seven matches under Marsch – but he did manage to develop the right balance in defense and give them just what they needed to prevent a repeat of their 2022 World Cup disaster, when they conceded seven goals and suffered three defeats. One player who proved instrumental in defence was Derek Cornelius.
Whilst the backline appeared to be one of the biggest question marks going into the tournament, Marsch quickly settled on a central defensive pairing of Cornelius and Moïse Bombito, a decision that proved conducive to Canada’s ability to soak up pressure and punch above their weight. Cornelius led the squad in blocks (5) and had the second-most clearances (27) behind Bombito (37), making a number of last-ditch interventions throughout a campaign that saw Canada keep clean sheets vs. Peru and Chile and hold Venezuela to just one goal.
Born in Ontario, Cornelius was 16 when he headed across the Atlantic and bounced around from Germany and Serbia before returning to Canada five years later and joining Vancouver Whitecaps, where he made 37 appearances in 2.5 years before making the move to Greek side Panetolikos on loan. He was promptly sold to Malmö FF and quickly emerged as one of the first names on the team sheet as the Swedish giants claimed a record 26th Allsvenskan title, and after 1.5 years in Scandinavia, he has taken his talents to France and signed a four-year deal with Marseille, who paid €4 million for the 26-year-old.
Capable of anticipating the movement of his opposing forwards and constantly well-positioned to intercept passes, Cornelius is a physically imposing defender who makes his presence known in aerial battles and 1v1 duels, and whose speed and strength enable him to make up ground and intervene, and he’s primed for a big season under De Zerbi.
Moïse Bombito
Canada are primed for a golden generation under Jesse Marsch thanks to a multicultural squad ranging from Jonathan David (born in New York to Haitian parents), Alphonso Davies (born in Ghana to Liberian parents), Cornelius (the son of a Barbadian father and a Jamaican mother), and Bair (Jamaican parents). As for Moïse Bombito, he was raised in Montreal to Congolese parents and lived in Quebec until enrolling in junior college in Iowa in 2020, where he would remain for two seasons before transferring to the University of New Hampshire.
Despite playing as a centre-back, Bombito managed to score four goals, including two game-winners, and even managed to mark his collegiate debut with a goal on September 10, 2022. Bombito was named as the team’s MVP, the Eastern College Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and the America East Defender of the Year. He even became the first UNH player to be selected to the Generation Adidas class, and as a result, he was allowed to sign a guaranteed contract and enter the 2023 MLS SuperDraft as an underclassman. Colorado Rapids selected him with the third pick of the draft, and Bombito didn’t take long to justify their faith and solidify a starting spot in central defence. After just 29 appearances in MLS, Bombito packed his bags for southern France and joined OGC Nice for €7 million.
It has been nothing short of a meteoric rise for Bombito, who made his international debut in last summer’s Gold Cup and who played every single minute of Canada’s Copa América campaign. Whilst Cornelius has been entrusted with replacing Chancel Mbemba in OM’s defense, Bombito has the onerous task of filling Jean-Clair Todibo’s void at the Allianz Riviera. However, there’s reason to believe that he can make the step up and impress in Ligue 1 and the UEFA Europa League under new manager Franck Haise.
Despite towering over the opposition at 1.9m, Bombito is able to recover in transition and put his long strides to use, sprinting backwards and horizontally and retreating in time before the opposing forward has a chance to fire a shot towards goal. He has been recorded at 23.16 mph, making him the fastest player of the 2024 MLS season, and his capacity to remain balanced in ground duels and jump high in the air makes him a monster in physical battles. Such are his long strides, Bombito can keep one leg planted on the ground whilst throwing another across and poking the ball away from his opponent, and he’s never afraid to dribble out of pressure and build out of the back with his confident and composed passing.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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