Daka, who has returned to training after an injury, has the chance to be the dependable constable that Steve Cooper will need in the near future.
Just as the door has opened for Patson Daka at Leicester City, he has resumed his training. But this might be his final opportunity to do so.
After suffering what appears to be an annual City injury in the last preseason friendly, Daka has yet to play in a competitive match under Steve Cooper. After limping off to Lens for ankle surgery, he has seldom been seen since.
Now that he is back on the grass, though, he will have opportunities if he can swiftly catch up. This is due to Jamie Vardy’s urgent need for a deputy.
The number nine has played 94% of City’s minutes and started all ten of the team’s Premier League games thus far. When City has been chasing a goal, Cooper has been hesitant to take him off, but it’s not like he hasn’t delivered—at Ipswich, Vardy set up Jordan Ayew’s late equaliser.
But Vardy’s minutes don’t seem sustainable at 37. In particular, the games come thick and fast in December. In August, September, and October, City each had three Premier League games. In November, they have four. But there are six in December.
It’s unclear if Vardy will be able to handle the midweek Premier League games as he hasn’t participated in any of the midweek cup games. That seems dangerous, particularly when he’s playing the entire ninety minutes on the weekend.
Therefore, the city needs someone who can share the burden. Although Ayew is currently the front-runner, Cooper must be able to use the Ghanaian on the winger so that he can get the ball to foot more frequently. Odsonne Edouard, on the other hand, didn’t even make the bench at Ipswich and seems to have fallen down the hierarchy.
When you combine all of those elements, Daka appears to be totally fit and ready to play for City in the coming months. He must seize the opportunity when it presents itself.
As of yet, it’s unclear how highly Cooper regards Daka. Vardy was hurt, but he played all preseason. Daka’s appearances only indicated that the manager thought he was more intelligent than Tom Cannon. Cooper’s level of patience with him is therefore uncertain.
Supporters don’t seem to be going to be very patient. Daka has been with City for over three years, but he hasn’t won over the supporters yet since his misses are too noticeable and his goal-scoring performance is too inconsistent.
Daka botched up a one-on-one at Leeds back in February, after scoring seven goals in ten appearances. City would have been ahead 2-0 if he had scored. Rather, they lost 3-1, and Enzo Maresca talked about Daka’s feelings of remorse at the moment. He did appear to lose confidence as a result, and he went on to lose out on some significant possibilities.
His ability to finish seemed to have failed him by the time of the loss at Plymouth, as the Zambian snatched at opportunities and sliced his shots, much to the astonished cries of the crowd. He only played 13 minutes in the season’s final four games after that one.
This indicates that in 16 games for City, including in friendly and competitive settings, Daka has failed to score. If he is to be regularly selected in the Premier League, that kind of run cannot go on.
Whether City survives or not, it seems like an exit next summer is imminent if he doesn’t perform. He will only have one year left on his deal by then, so City might try to offload him to recoup a modest amount rather than losing him for nothing the next year.
But he might be able to deliver. Vardy has scored more goals this season than he did during the entire relegation campaign under Cooper. Perhaps Daka can experience the same thing.
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