Newcastle United head into the winter break with the wind in their sails, as Champions League dreams begin to become more of a reality.

With their exciting top-four chase in mind, they will surely need to bolster their ranks in January to continue that push.

What's the word?

According to French outlet, Media Foot Marseille, Jonathan David is in the sights of Newcastle.

Per their information, the Magpies are set to test the resolve of his club side, Lille, in the winter market with a bid.

It's not stated how much the player could cost, but Eddie Howe and Dan Ashworth will receive competition from Manchester United to land the Canadian striker.

That race may well become even more hotly contested, however, if he stars for his country at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.

Isak-esque

One of the biggest challenges facing Ashworth over the summer was the addition of a forward player to Howe's ranks.

For so long they struggled to bring in the necessary calibre of player with Sweden international, Alexander Isak, being the only man to arrive in the final third.

Isak's career on the Toon began in stunning fashion, scoring on his debut against Liverpool and then netting against Bournemouth too. Unfortunately, he has cruelly been ruled out with a hamstring injury ever since that goal back in September.

Callum Wilson has since found form, scoring six times to seal his place in Gareth Southgate's England squad. However, he too has struggled with injury since arriving at St James' Park so the entrance of another striker would be no bad thing, especially if it comes in the form of David.

In the words of radio host, Tony Marinaro, the Canadian is a "phenom" who is undoubtedly "one of the best strikers in the world."

It's hard to dispute that claim with the rampant 22-year-old finding the net on nine occasions in 15 outings this season, a tally that adds to his haul of 19 goals in 2021/22. 15 of those strikes last term came in Ligue 1, with that number more than both Neymar and Lionel Messi in the same division.

The young forward is a swashbuckling talent who uses a combination of devastating finishing ability and pace to dominate his opponents.

It is those qualities that see him compared to Isak, who also has the pace and confident finishing ability to terrorise the opposition's backline.

According to FB Ref's similar players model, they are directly compared, with the current Newcastle striker the tenth man who is most alike to David.

Their statistics are similar in a number of areas, particularly when it comes to carries with Isak registering 0.91 successful dribbles per 90 compared to the Lille attacker's 0.88. They are similarly prolific in goal too, with the former amassing 0.33 goals per shot on target compared to the latter's 0.30.

Defensive actions are also where you can see similarities with the duo both winning 50% of their tackles per 90 minutes.

Although signing him is unlikely to come without a high price and mass competition, it's clear just how talented David is. Thus, attempting to bring him to the north east of England in January is a must for Ashworth and co.

It would surely be PIF's biggest statement of intent yet and one that could well guarantee them a spot in the Champions League next campaign.