Jonathan David has had an opportunity to discuss the criticism he has received in his first season at Juventus, has put to bed any rumours that he hasn’t settled in the dressing room and says that the Old Lady are ‘under more scrutiny than any other club in Italy’.
David on Juventus struggles, false rumours and failed panenka penalty attempt
The Canada international, who joined Juventus on a free transfer after five successful seasons with Lille in Ligue 1, spoke to TSN in his homeland after what has been a fairly underwhelming first campaign in Serie A.
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David has made 30 appearances in Serie A this term, but has only started 17 times and is only on five league goals for the season, four of which came in a run of five games in January. For reference, David averaged 17.4 league goals per season during his time in France and never scored fewer than 13 in the league during his five seasons with Lille.
“For me, I think it’s been up and down. I came to a new club with high hopes, high expectations and obviously I wasn’t scoring as regularly as I wanted to,” David told TSN when asked how he thinks his 2025-26 season has gone.
TURIN, ITALY – JANUARY 25: Jonathan David of Juventus celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates Weston McKennie and Kenan Yildiz during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and SSC Napoli at Juventus Stadium on January 25, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
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He feels that playing for a club the size of Juventus also opens players up to wider criticism: “Juventus is the club that is under more scrutiny than any other club in Italy, there’s all these eyes on you and obviously people will talk.”
There had been rumours earlier in the season that David had not settled into the dressing room at Continassa, and there were some reports that the players had stopped inviting him out to team dinners.
Head coach Luciano Spalletti had to step in to put the story to bed, joking that the first time David was invited out for dinner with his teammates, he committed the Italian sin of grating parmesan cheese over seafood pasta, which is why his Italian colleagues, supposedly, didn’t take him out again.
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David insists that these rumours were not true in the slightest.
“I don’t know how or why that rumour came out but obviously I know it wasn’t true because I’m in the dressing room with these guys, we get along very well,” he said.
SASSUOLO, ITALY – JANUARY 06: Luciano Spalletti, Head Coach of Juventus, celebrates his team’s third goal, scored by Jonathan David during the Serie A match between US Sassuolo Calcio and Juventus FC at Mapei Stadium Citta del Tricolore on January 06, 2026 in Sassuolo, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
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David also faced criticism after making a mess of an attempted panenka from the penalty spot in a 1-1 draw with Lecce, which ended up costing Juventus a precious two points.
“I knew what I wanted to do, it didn’t come off right. After that game there was a lot of talk about the way I kicked the penalty, why it was me doing it.”
It was immediately after the Lecce game that David went on his run of scoring four times in five Serie A matches: “It was a very special moment for myself and I think for the team also,” he said.
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“Maybe sometimes people don’t understand you, people don’t really know you so they tend to judge you but that doesn’t really matter because you have people that are close to you, who care for you, who understand the way you are so I’m not really worried about that.”
