Patson Daka (born 9 October 1998) is a Zambian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for club

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and the Zambia national team. Daka's career trajectory began within the youth system, where he showcased his abilities playing for local club Kafue Celtic. Subsequently, he was sent on loan to Nchanga Rangers and Power Dynamos, where he was able to further hone his skills. In January 2017, Daka joined Red Bull Salzburg's reserve team Liefering in Austria, and was then made part of the first team in the following summer. He helped Salzburg win four

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

titles and three

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s. In summer 2021, Daka joined Leicester City in the Premier League. Daka made his senior international debut for Zambia in 2015 at the age of 16.

Club career

Early career

Daka began his youth career at Kafue Celtic, joining their under-12s, before moving on to the under-14s in 2007, and to the under-17s in 2010. In summer 2014, Daka was sent on a one-year loan to Nchanga Rangers in the

Zambia Super League The Zambia Super League, known as the MTN Group, MTN Super League for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes, is the top association football sports league, league created in 1962 by the Football Association of Zambia. The winners of the leag ...

. He was then loaned out to Power Dynamos in summer 2015. Before that, he did some practice sessions with

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

but finally didn't sign with the French side. At Dynamos, he ended the season as the club's top scorer with 12 goals. At the end of the 2016 season, he was awarded as the Zambia Super League Young Player of the Year.

FC Liefering

Daka moved to Austria in January 2016 when he signed with

FC Liefering FC Liefering GmbH is an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club, originally from Salzburg#Districts, Liefering, Salzburg. It currently plays in the Austrian Football Second League, Second League, the second tier of Austrian f ...

– the second-tier feeder team of Red Bull Salzburg – on a half-season loan from Kafue Celtic. Daka scored twice for the club in nine appearances to help them finish second in the 2.Liga.

Red Bull Salzburg

Daka signed with Red Bull Salzburg in 2017. He helped the club win the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

, scoring two goals in two games. On 27 November, Daka scored against

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

in the

2019–20 UEFA Champions League The 2019–20 UEFA Champions League was the 65th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 28th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Bayern Munich ...

, becoming the first Zambian player to score in the competition's group stage. On 18 December 2019, Daka extended his contract with Salzburg until the summer of 2024. On 30 September 2020, he scored a brace in a 3–1 win over

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

in the play-off round to qualify to the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defea ...

. On 21 May 2021, Daka was named Austrian Bundesliga player of the season after registering 27 goals in 28 games, as the club won their fourth successive league title.

Leicester City

On 30 June 2021, Daka signed for

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club

on a five-year contract, for a reported fee of £23 million. Daka made his debut for the club with an appearance off the bench in Leicester's 1–0 triumph over reigning Premier League champions

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in the

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on 7 August. On 23 August, Daka made his Premier League debut as a substitute for

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in a 4–1 away defeat to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. On 16 October, he scored his first goal for Leicester City in a 4–2 win against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

King Power Stadium King Power Stadium is a football stadium in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England, and the home of Leicester City. The stadium opened in 2002 as the Walkers Stadium and has a capacity of 32,259. The club attracted worldwide attenti ...

. He followed this up on 20 October by scoring all four goals in a 4–3 win over Spartak Moscow in the

2021–22 UEFA Europa League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa League was the 51st season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 13th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Rangers ...

, becoming the first Leicester player to score 4 in a game since 1958. On 25 November 2021, Daka became Leicester's all-time leading goalscorer in European competition by scoring in a 3–1 Europa League victory over

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

International career

Daka made his senior debut for

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

in a 2–0 friendly victory over

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

on 10 May 2015. He was the 2017 CAF Young Player of the Year.

Personal life

Daka's father, Nathtali Daka, was a former footballer who played as a winger for local club Kafue-based Nitrogen Stars. Daka is married to Zambian sprinter Suwilanji Mpondela. He is a devout Christian.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Zambia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg Youth *

: 2016–17 Red Bull Salzburg *

: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 *

: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 Leicester City *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

: 2023–24 Zambia U20 * Africa U-20 Cup of Nations:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

* COSAFA U-20 Cup:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Individual * Africa U-20 Cup of Nations Best Player:

* Africa U-20 Cup of Nations Best XI:

* CAF Youth Player of the Year: 2017 *

Young Player of the Year: 2014, 2016 * Zambia Sportsman of the Year: 2017 *

Player of the Year: 2020–21 * Austrian Bundesliga Top scorer: 2020–21 *

Team of the Year: 2020–21 *

Africa Cup of Nations qualification Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Top scorer:

References

External links

Profile
at the Leicester City F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daka, Patson 1998 births Living people People from Chingola Zambian Christians Zambian men's footballers 21st-century Zambian sportsmen Zambia men's youth international footballers Zambia men's under-20 international footballers Zambia men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Kafue Celtic F.C. players Green Buffaloes F.C. players Power Dynamos F.C. players FC Liefering players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Leicester City F.C. players Zambia Super League players 2. Liga (Austria) players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Premier League players English Football League players Zambian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in England Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Zambian expatriate sportspeople in England Zambia men's A' international footballers 2016 African Nations Championship players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players