The Athletic’s Rob Tanner has suggested that new Leicester City signing Patson Daka could be the club’s long-term replacement for the ageing Jamie Vardy.
Daka was announced as a Leicester player on 30th June, joining the club from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg on a five-year deal, and Tanner believes that Daka could be a ‘future replacement for Jamie Vardy.’
Tanner made the claim during the BBC’s Leicester City Football Forum after being asked if he believes Daka brings in more than what the club has already.
He said: “I think he’s the one that they’ve earmarked as the future replacement for Jamie Vardy – plays in a similar way, he likes to play on the left shoulder, doesn’t get involved too much in the build-up, fantastic pace.”
TIF thoughts on Leicester City signing Patson Daka…
It’s going to be tough for Leicester to find a replacement for Vardy, who has been a revelation since the 34-year-old joined the club from Fleetwood Town in 2012, with the striker scoring 147 goals and providing 61 assists in 352 games for the Foxes.
Despite this, Leicester fans would’ve been feeling refreshed by Kelechi Iheanacho’s form at the end of last season, with the 24-year-old Nigerian scoring 12 goals and providing two assists for the Foxes in the Premier League last term, and now Leicester supporters have been given another boost with the signing of Daka.
Daka may still be very young at the age of 22, but his record speaks for itself. The Zambian forward had 95 goal involvements for Red Bull Salzburg in 125 games for the club, scoring 68 goals and assisting 27.
Though it will be a difficult task to replace Vardy, Tanner clearly seems to believe that Daka could be the man that Leicester are hoping to be Vardy’s long-term replacement but that may hinge on whether he gets much game time for the Foxes next season.