Canadian forward Promise David heads to Premier League

After scoring at the World Cup for Canada, forward Promise David is moving to Brighton on loan from Union Saint-Gilloise.

Brighton said its deal for the 25-year-old David “includes an obligation to buy should certain criteria be met.” He played in four of co-host Canada’s games at the World Cup and scored in a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in the group stage.

Belgian league runner-up Union was eliminated in the Champions League qualifying rounds last week, against Bodo/Glimt, and will play in the Europa League where its expected prize money drops by tens of millions of euros.

Brighton and Union have close ties through their owners and share player data analysis by Jamestown Analytics. The data firm founded by Brighton owner Tony Bloom is renowned in European soccer and also used by Como and Heart of Midlothian.

Brighton hosts Aston Villa, the Europa League titleholder, in its Premier League opener on Sunday. Brighton is in the third-tier Conference League this season and has a first-leg game on Thursday in the qualifying playoffs at Tromso in Norway.

Crystal Palace signs American teen Gozo in club record sale for Real Salt Lake

Crystal Palace added to its squad for another European campaign by signing United States youth international Zavier Gozo in a club record sale for Real Salt Lake.

The Conference League titleholder signed the 19-year-old winger to a five-year contract late Monday. The transfer fee was reportedly US$15-million.

Real Salt Lake said in a statement it will “retain a significant percentage of any future transfer fee for Gozo,” who it said was the first Utah native to join a Premier League club.

Palace starts the Premier League at Everton on Saturday and will play in the second-tier Europa League. UEFA makes the league phase draw in Monaco next week.

World Cup veteran Elvedi to Leeds

Leeds got a solid defensive addition by signing Switzerland veteran Nico Elvedi from Borussia Monchengladbach for a reported €8-million ($12.9-million).

Elvedi has been to the past three World Cups and played every minute of Switzerland’s six-game run to the quarter-finals, ended by a hard-luck loss against Argentina last month.

The 29-year-old centre back spent 11 years at Gladbach where he played under Leeds coach Daniel Farke in the 2022-23 season.

Elvedi joins a Leeds squad looking to build on a solid first season back in the Premier League when the club owned by the San Francisco 49ers also reached the FA Cup semi-finals.

Newly promoted Coventry spends more

The price of trying to stay in the Premier League is getting higher for promoted teams.

Championship title winner Coventry took its off-season spending to about US$160-million on Wednesday by signing 19-year-old Guinea-born forward Sidiki Chérif from Fenerbahce.

The reported transfer fee was £20.5-million ($38.5-million) for Fenerbahce which last week signed Belgium veteran Romelu Lukaku as the Istanbul giant aims for its first Turkish league title since 2014.

Chérif, who joined Fenerbahce in February from French club Angers, was called up to the France Under-21 squad in March though did not play.

Coventry, coached by Frank Lampard, starts its first Premier League season in 25 years on Friday at titleholder Arsenal.