When Patson Daka signed for Leicester City four years ago, the excitement among Zambians, this writer included, was hard to ignore. One of our own had made it into the world of football’s promised land, the English Premier League.
Described by the BBC as an “exciting” Zambian striker, Daka tickled Leicester’s fancy with his 27 goals in 28 games for Red Bull Salzburg the previous season.
He was billed as the long-term successor to club legend Jamie Vardy. For the former Premier League champions, Daka’s arrival felt like a signing for the future and the now.
It has now been four years since that description by the BBC, and Bolanews takes a moment to look back at some of the player’s highs and lows since his arrival at the King Power Stadium.
Highs: European Nights, Silverware, and a Century of Games
In October 2021, Daka etched his name in the Leicester history books insofar as European football is concerned. He scored four goals in his team’s 4-3 win over Spartak Moscow in a Europa League tie. He became the first player in the club’s history to score four goals in a European match.
In total, he ended that season with six goals in European matches to become the club’s record scorer in continental football. Given Leicester’s current decline, it looks like he will hold that record for a while.
For his time at Leicester, he has managed to win some silverware. He lifted the Community Shield in 2021 when the club beat Manchester City 1–0 at the iconic Wembley Stadium. He is a ‘league’ winner, having contributed to Leicester’s Championship title-winning campaign in the 2023/24 season.
In his four seasons at the club, Daka managed 121 appearances in all competitions, scoring 23 goals and providing 14 assists. He is the highest-scoring Zambian in Premier League history with 10 goals, a notable achievement, though less surprising considering only four Zambians have featured in the English top flight in its modern era.
Lows: Struggles with Form, Fitness, and Fitting In
But for all the milestones, Daka’s Leicester tenure has also been marked by what could have been. He has been nowhere near what he was at Salzburg, where he boasted of a staggering 0.93 goals per 90 minutes compared to 0.34 in England.
Of course, the Premier League’s intensity cannot be compared to that of the league in Austria, but a lack of confidence, rhythm, and tactical fit on Daka’s part has also played its part.
Injuries have not helped either. Last year, he spent over 80 days on the treatment table, leading him to miss 13 matches.
Managerial turmoil at the club has also compounded Daka’s challenges. In just four seasons, he has worked under seven different coaches, four permanent managers, and three caretakers. Unsurprisingly, his most settled spell came under Brendan Rodgers, who gave him 65 appearances.
Under Enzo Maresca, Daka was exiled for much of the first half of the 2023/24 campaign. It took injuries to Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho for him to be recalled, and he responded admirably, scoring key goals in the title run-in.
In the just-ended season in which Leicester was relegated from the Premier League, Daka was of little impact in the 23 league appearances he made. In 721 minutes of football, he only managed to score one goal.
The player has now entered the final 12 months of his current contract. Handed the narrative of Vardy’s heir, the Chipolopolo hitman has approached a make-or-break phase with Vardy now out of the picture.
As Daka prepares to play his fifth season with the club in England’s second tier, the Championship, the question remains: will it be his last and his best in England?
Time will tell.
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