Have Leicester City found a star in Patson Daka?
Patson Daka scored four goals in the UEFA Europa League as Leicester City came back from two goals down against Spartak Moscow to get their first win in the competition.
The Zambian signed for the Foxes in the summer transfer window, joining from Red Bull Salzburg where he scored 54 goals in 82 league appearances.
Daka also became the first-ever Zambian to score in the Premier League as he netted Leicester’s fourth to beat Manchester United 4-2. It’s clear that the speedy forward has picked up from where he left off in Austria.
Where it all started for the Leicester City forward
He began his footballing career back at his hometown club of Kafue Celtic and worked his way up the youth ranks there. His first taste of first-team football came in the form of two loan spells at Zambian Super League sides.
This began to create a lot of buzz around the young player and he was loaned out to Austrian Liefering, in his first steps into European football.
Daka was thought to be such a prospect, he made his international debut at just 17 years old, whilst still playing in his home country.
After tearing it up, Salzburg snapped him up, and the forward continued to get better and better before the Premier League came calling in 2021.
Since moving to England, we haven’t seen an awful lot of the player until this past week, where the Zambian has bagged five goals in less than 120 minutes of football.
He is known for his pace and he has certainly shown it off with the majority of his four goals in Europe coming from runs in behind the defence. He also showed off his attacking positional skills, as he grabbed his first Premier League goal by being at the right place and at the right time against Man United.
It could be insinuated that Patson Daka is almost a Jamie Vardy replacement in the making, with his quick feet and pacey runs in behind, and this is something Leicester have been looking for, for a while.
Last season: Kelechi Iheanacho stepped up and became the second striker, but Daka provides a different option – out wide or through the middle – and he’s already found out where the net is. The Foxes could have a difference-maker on their hands.