Patson Daka: Profiling Europe’s newest goal machine
The Zambian goal machine was born on 09/10/1998 in Chingola the cleanest town by then. His Height is 1.83 m, He Weighs 71Kg and uses his right foot.
In Zambia, Daka has played for Nchanga Rangers, Power Dynamos, and lower-tier side Kafue Celtic. In Austria, the first started with Salzburg’s feeder club FC Liefering before finally moving to Redbull Salzburg.
He came on the scene or began to be noticed by many when he was on the ranks of Nchanga Rangers. Prior to that he had already made his mark during the Airtel rising stars days and went on make up the backbone of Chris Kaunda’s U-17 national team with Enock Mwepu and Prosper Chiluya.
The late Changwe was called to senior national team in 2014 before Patson and Mwepu were even considered
Most coaches at the national team (U-17, U-20, U23 and senior ) loved the potential of the then 16-year-old and he used to be summoned for duty every time despite not always delivering and the fans turned on him.
His return to glory days and major breakthrough was not far off however as on 2nd January 2016 he was loaned to Power Dynamos where he spent close to 12 months.
After scoring in the first game of the season as Abayellow beat Napsa Stars 2-1 he went on a dry spell and only managed a single goal in the first half of the season. This however changed in the second half of the season as he netted 11 times and was among the top 3 goalscorers in the league.
At the end of the year, Coach Beston Chambeshi named him in his team for the U-20 COSAFA tournament and went on to win it with Daka scoring two goals in the road to winning the cup and he was named the young player of the year.
On 1st January, He secured a loan deal to join Austrian side FC Liefering, Red Salzburg’s feeder club where he spent close to 6 months.
A month after joining FC Liefering, The then 18-year-old returned home to be part of Beston Chambeshi’s ‘Dream Team’ that conquered Africa by winning the 2017 U-20 AFCON with Patson Daka being named as the player of the tournament with four goals to his name.
After his success with the junior Copper Bullets, Daka was a late addition to the Redbull Salzburg youth team for the UEFA Youth League scoring in the semifinals against Barca B and in the final against Benfica to help Salzburg U-19 clinch the title.
After his great exploits, Salzburg offered him a five-year permanent contract which was supposed to expire on 31 May 2022 but has since extended to 2024.
His current transfer market value is $7.20M while his highest was $8.00 in December 2019 and is the highest-ranked Zambian player and 70th among the players born in 1998. He is currently Zambia’s topmost striker.
This season he is playing his best football yet and has turned out 30 times for Salzburg in the league though he hasn’t started all but only 65 percent.
He only became a starter in the second round of the league games following the departure of Erling Braut Haaland. Daka this season has managed to net 24 league goals with 7 League assists.
He has played 64% of Salzburg’s total league minutes and has also played a total of 1798.2 league minutes out of the total 2790 league minutes. The Zambian talisman scores or provides an assist in every 58 minutes he is on the pitch.
The boy from Kafue is vying for European golden shoe and he is on number 12 ahead of renowned players like Pierre Emmerick Aubameyang, Karim Benzema.
Detailing this now. In France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and England every league goal scored counts for 2.0 points while in Austrian Bundesliga league every goal scored counts for 1.5 points. So His 24 exploits in the league amount to 36 points.
If he was playing in these big five European leagues, he would have been on number five with 46 points ahead of Ronaldo and Messi. His goal haul is impressive, every 74 minutes he has to score meaning he guarantees every team a goal in a single match played.
In the Austrian Bundesliga league, He is second on top scorers chart with 24 goals, 3 behind Wolfsberger AC Israeli talisman Shon Zalman Weissman.
In the UEFA champions league, he has played 6 games scoring one goal becoming only the first Zambian to do so. In the Europa League, He has played 2 games with no goal and only 1 assist. In OFB cup, He has played 6 games scoring 2 goals.
He has played a total of 44 games this season scoring 27 goals and providing 11 assists.These statistics are very impressive for a 21year old player as most strikers become more prolific as they age just like old wine.
When he scored his second goal against TSV Hartberg last month, Daka became the first Zambian to score 20 league goals or more for a European club surpassing Mwape Miti’s 19 goals scored in the 2003/04 season for Danish side Odense Boldklub.
The question now is which European club will ask for His signature or maybe He will remain at Red bull Salzburg for another season. RB Leipzig and AC Milan have already been reported to be interested in him.