Leicester City lead the Championship as they seek a return to the Premier League.
The Foxes have won 14 of their first 18 league games in the second division and appear to be on their way to the top flight. Patson Daka, a striker, has played far fewer minutes than expected this season.
The 25-year-old joined Leicester from RB Salzburg in 2021 for a reported fee of £23 million, and he appeared to be a very exciting signing at the time. Daka had scored 27 goals in his previous 28 league games for the Austrian club, which was a pleasing statistic for the Foxes to consider.
Daka has been heavily linked with a move away from the King Power Stadium for months, with Bournemouth failing to secure a deal before the summer transfer window closed. Elsewhere, it appeared that Brentford were planning to replace Ivan Toney with the Zambia international.
Finally, given his lack of club football this season, it is becoming increasingly likely that the Leicester striker will leave in January.
Leicester City’s time with Daka
The Zambian striker has made 76 appearances for the club in his two and a half year tenure, scoring 15 goals and assisting on eight others. His most notable performance in a Leicester shirt came relatively early in his tenure, when he scored four goals in one game to complete a stunning comeback against Spartak Moscow in the Europa League.
With Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho vying for a starting spot up top, Daka hasn’t always been a regular starter, making just 13 Premier League starts last season.
Daka’s game time at Leicester City has been practically non-existent since the club was relegated to the Championship and Enzo Maresca was appointed manager. This season, the 25-year-old has played just one minute of Championship football, coming on as a late substitute against Sunderland, and has been left out of the squad entirely at times.
Daka isn’t getting any game time at the moment, and with Leicester’s Championship dominance so far, Maresca sees no reason to change things up in January.
Should Daka be allowed to leave Leicester?
Daka’s lack of game time begs the question of whether the reported £23m fee was worthwhile, given that he appears to be leaving soon. The Foxes are unlikely to recoup anything close to that £23 million, but there appears to be no reason to keep him around in January, despite the obvious positive qualities he possesses.
Maresca has continued to rely on Leicester’s strikers Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho to score goals in the Championship, and they have done so with eleven goals between them. Daka has been frozen out of the starting lineup, and there appears to be no way back.
The striker has been in excellent form for Zambia this season, scoring six goals in five games, and will undoubtedly do well elsewhere if given the chance.
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