Since the start of the season, Zambia’s Patson Daka has made just two cameo appearances from the bench for Leicester City.
He played 26 minutes in the Carabao Cup against Liverpool and just a minute in the Championship against Sunderland.
Despite his excellent form with Zambia during the international break, scoring three goals in two matches, including a brace in a 4-2 win over Congo Brazzaville and a consolation goal in a 2-1 loss to Niger in the World Cup qualifiers, Daka was not named to Leicester City’s matchday squad on Saturday.
The Foxes went on to defeat Watford 2-0 at the King Power Stadium, with Jamie Vardy scoring both goals, to move his side to the top of the Championship table with 42 points after round 17.
Daka has nine goals for Zambia in 2023, and he is the African player with the most international goals this year, tied for fourth in the world with England’s Harry Kane.
He is only behind Romelu Lukaku(15), Cristiano Ronaldo (10) and Kylian Mbappe (10).
However, it appears that Daka’s relationship with the Italian manager, Enzo Maresca, has soured.
The Zambian may continue not to have game time, especially given the team’s recent form in the championship without him.
Enzo explains why some players will ask to leave Leicester City
Before Saturday’s match, Enzo admitted that some of his players will ask to leave the club in January because they want to play.
“We have a full squad; we have 25 players, so it’s not easy. But because it’s open, for sure something is going to happen. Probably players want to play more and they will ask to leave. We’ll see anyway,” Enzo said during a pre-match press conference.
Daka was close to joining AFC Bournemouth in the last transfer window but the deal fell through on deadline day.
Another team that was reportedly interested in the Chipolopolo striker was AC Milan.
With the window opening in January, there is no doubt Daka will be on his way out of Leicester in search of game time at a different club.
However, it remains to be seen where the ninth-highest scorer of all time for Zambia will be heading next year.
