English side Brighton & Hove Albion have agreed a deal for Canadian forward Promise David from Belgian side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise. The deal is a one-year loan which includes a mandatory purchase clause for €26m, conditional on the player meeting certain sporting criteria during the loan period.
David, who is 25 years old, will take on the role of striker at Brighton following the departure of Danny Welbeck this summer. Brighton’s sporting director Mike Cave has therefore addressed the gap in the attack by bringing in a player who delivered outstanding results in Belgium.
In his first season at Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, David was a key player who helped the club win the title for the first time in 90 years. During that period he scored 24 goals, and his overall tally for the Belgian side stands at 41 goals and nine assists in 82 appearances. Scouts had taken note of his performances as far back as when he played for Estonian side Nomme Kalju, where in 44 league appearances he scored 30 goals.
Before moving to Belgium in 2024, for which a fee of €500,000 was paid, David had a varied career spanning appearances in several European leagues. Between 2019 and 2022 he played for Zagreb-based Trnje in the 3. HNL Centar, where in six appearances he scored one goal. Following Croatia, he moved to American side Tulsa and then to Maltese clubs Valletta and Sirens.
On the international stage, David is a Canadian international who has so far made 14 appearances and scored four goals for his country. He particularly stood out at the World Cup, where he scored a goal in the match against Switzerland, thereby confirming the quality required to compete at the highest level.
