Who is Patson Daka?

It would be easy to assume that with Erling Braut Haaland leaving RB Salzburg that the Austrian champions might be missing their hot shot striker. That’s not quite the case though. and Patson Daka is the reason why. His price of £1.24 is already £1.01 higher than it was a year ago but it’s only heading in one direction so he’s still deserving of his place amongst our Football Index tips.

The Daka early years

Daka, 21, made his first strides into European football with a loan spell at Liefering from Kafue Celtic, who play in the top tier of his native Zambia, before making a permanent switch to Salzburg.

He was highly rated as he came through the system and made his senior international bow at the age of just 16. In 2017, was named the CAF Young Player of the Year and Player of the Tournament at the Under 20 African Cup of Nations.

Style of play

Originally, Daka started life as a winger but as time has progressed, he’s developed into an out and out striker. It’s easy to draw comparisons between him and former teammate Haaland given it is Daka who is tasked with filling the Norwegian’s boots. They share some qualities too but they’re not quite the same sort of forward.

The pair are both rapid over short distances and have an eye for goal but whilst Haaland is a strong, physical presence, Daka is a more technical player who relies on his movement and reading of the game to create opportunities for himself. When those chances come, he regularly takes them.

Goals, goals, goals

When Haaland left for Borussia Dortmund he had scored 29 in 27 for Salzburg. Daka was firmly in his shadow. The Zambian has a decent return too though with a goal involvement every game – 17 goals and four assists in 21 league matches. You won’t see Daka dropping deep to link play with his preference to play on the shoulder of the last defender before truly coming alive in the penalty area; although he does have the potential to hit the occasional thunderbolt from outside the box.

Given how Salzburg play, Daka will continue to score goals with alarming regularity and with the Haaland hype gone it’s only a matter of time until his £1.24 price soars further – especially if the likes of AC Milan and others firm up their apparent interest. It certainly wouldn’t surprise us if the next big gainer on Football Index is Patson Daka.