Can Daka fit in Vardy’s Scoring Boots?
Leicester City Football Club have confirmed the departure of legendary striker Jamie Vardy at the end of the 2024/25 Premier League season, closing a 13-year chapter at the club.
The 38-year-old joined the Foxes for £1M from Fleetwood Town in 2012. Since then, he has become a winner of the Premier League, FA Cup, Community Shield, and double Championship during a golden era for the club.
He has been hailed as Leicester’s greatest-ever player, with nearly 500 appearances and almost 200 goals to his name.
Vardy’s final game at King Power Stadium will be on Sunday 18 May against Ipswich Town, where he will bid farewell to the supporters with whom he has lived through his rise from a non-league hopeful to one of the best goal scorers the Premier League has ever seen.
On the way to winning the 2015/16 Premier League title, Vardy scored 24 goals in 36 appearances for Leicester City in the league. He continued to score 143 goals over 10 seasons.
Now that Vardy is out, Zambian striker Patson Daka might be the Foxes’ preferred goal scorer.
After years of being an understudy to the veteran English striker, Daka will need to step up his conversion rate to command a starting berth for Leicester City.
The Chipolopolo striker joined Leicester City in 2021 for £22 million from Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg but has failed to command the main strikers’ role as Jamie Vardy remained the preferred option.
In previous interviews, Daka has revealed how much he has learned playing alongside the club legend.
“Jamie has been one of my inspirations,” Daka told BBC in October 2021.
“I am sure you can tell with the kind of playing style that I have, which is similar to him. It is a big privilege for me to be working alongside him. He helps me a lot in training.”
In November of the same year, Daka also reaffirmed his desire to replicate Vardy’s heroics at Leicester City.
Daka said, “It’s been amazing working with him, being close to him, learning from him. He’s a great guy. I was talking to him before my first game, and it’s special for me to work alongside him. I believe there is a lot more I can learn from him.”
With 157 appearances for Leicester City, Daka has scored 34 goals with 18 assists.
Daka and his teammates will be aiming to win back promotion to the Premier League after their relegation was confirmed by the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool last Sunday.
