When Leicester City signed Patson Daka in the summer, we were all excited. Daka’s name had been strongly rumoured with Liverpool, but instead it was the Foxes who secured the signing of the 23-year-old Zambian from RB Salzburg.
The Austrian giants are known for producing incredible talents – Sadio Mane and Erling Haaland are two graduates who are performing at the highest of levels – so there was heavy expectation placed on the striker, especially considering the £27m price tag. Daka looked exciting in pre-season and scored a penatly.
He was denied his first proffessional goal for a marginal offside against Napoli in the Foxes’ opening Europa League game, but his performances continued to excite. Eventually Daka got his goal, getting the fourth and final goal in Leicester’s emphatic 4-2 win over Manchester United, becoming the first ever Zambian to score in the Premier League. Many were hoping that Daka would push on after breaking his duck but were couldn’t have expected what was to come.
On Wednesday, despite a promising performance, Leicester City found themselves 2-0 down in a crucial game away against Spartak Moscow in the Europa League. Moments after Spartak’s second, Daka got the Foxes back in it; 2-1 at half time.
Then Daka took matters into his own hands. He scored a second and then scored his third – his first hattrick for his new club. Was he done yet? We know the answer. Daka wanted four, got four, and became the first Leicester player in 63 years to score that many in a single game.
4-3 was the final result; Daka single handily saving LCFC’s European campaign. It was a week of records for him, as he became the first ever Zambian to score a hattrick in European football, as well as scoring the fastest ever Europa League hattrick – 9 minutes separated his first and third goal. All of this rightfully earned him the crown of Europa League player of the week, as well as a perfect score of 10 on WhoScored.
Daka has suddenly come alive for Leicester, and the fans aren’t the only ones who are impressed. After the game, Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers spoke to the Leicester Mercury about his striker’s stunning display:
"“To score four goals in any game of football is so difficult but to do it in an away game in Europe, it’s a real special achievement. All of his finishes were fantastic, really calm, really composed. In so many ways it was a great victory for us. To score four goals, come again from behind, you don’t want to make a habit of coming from behind but it really tells you everything about the spirit in the team and the mentality, that they’re never broken. We will keep going right to the very end.” – Brendan Rodgers on Patson Daka’s four-goal display"
The Zambian has made a name of himself over the last two seasons in Austria. After Salzburg sold their prolific goal scorer in Erling Haaland, they needed someone to get the goals: Patson Daka was the answer.
Over the last two seasons he scored a whopping 61 goals for his club, as well as 7 international goals. To get Daka up and firing for Leicester is a big boost, especially now as the Foxes continue their mini revival in form. The big question now is if he starts against Brentford on Sunday and if so, who does he play alongside? It is obvious that Leicester play at their best with two up-front.
Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho made for a formidable partnership in Russia, with the Nigerian assisting two of Daka’s goals. However, can you really drop the ever-lethal Jamie Vardy, especially as he is the joint-top goal-scorer in the Premier League this season with 7 goals.
What I would expect is for Vardy and Iheanacho to start the game at Brentford, and for Daka to replace Vardy off from the bench in the second half. This selection will be a headache for Rogers, but one he will be delighted with. Leicester now have three strikers playing at the top of their game, let’s see what they can do on Sunday.
Some LCFC fans seen on social media have called for Daka to start vs the Bees, as it appears odd to drop a man who netted four. Yet Rodgers has a plan and is pragmatic in selections.