Zambian striker Patson Daka’s agent, Frédéric Kanouté, has hinted at the player’s future at Leicester City.
Kanouté, who is in Lusaka on a football consultancy tour at Kafue Celtics, has revealed that discussions about Daka’s possible transfer this summer have yet to begin.
Last year, Daka was on the verge of joining AFC Bournemouth, but his deal fell through on deadline day. However, the 25-year-old has remained the subject of transfer rumours.
His relationship with his club coach, Enzo Maresca, which seemed to deteriorate for the majority of 2023 and resulted in his exclusion from the squad, appeared to be improving before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Kanouté has said Leicester City’s promotion to the English Premier League could be good for Daka to stay.
“Leicester is going back to the EPL so it could be a good opportunity for him to stay,” he said. ” But if he has other opportunities as well, that could be good for him; maybe he will have more opportunities to shine in another club but all these things will have to be discussed at a later stage.”
Daka had only appeared in one of Leicester City’s 19 league games before December 9, 2023, making the bench ten times and missing the squad eight.
However, after Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy were sidelined in December due to illness and injury, respectively, Maresca turned to Daka, who went on to score two back-to-back goals against Plymouth and Millwall, as well as a brace against Rotherham, in six consecutive championship starts before joining the Chipolopolo camp for the AFCON.
What’s next for Daka?
Kanouté feels a lack of game time affected Daka to some extent but he praised the Chipolopolo talisman for handling the situation well.
“I think he started quite well but it was a little bit difficult as well. I think there were ups and downs. We would have liked him to play and all the Zambian people would have liked him to play a little bit more on a very competitive team and Leicester is a very competitive team.
“You have to learn as well from these things, and being on the bench sometimes means that when you come on, you have to make a difference and he has played that role very well,” the former Mali international, who is the founder of 12 Management, told ZNBC Sport on Friday.
He continued: “The next step for him so that we can all rate him close to ten [out of ten] is for him to have consistency and have more playing time and as soon as he has that opportunity to play more, I think he will show how great of a striker that he is.”
Daka concluded his season with Leicester City in the Championship with 7 goals and 5 assists in 20 games to win his tenth trophy in Europe.
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