Patson Daka: Why is he one of the most important signings for Leicester City this summer?

Leicester City have already announced the arrival of Zambian forward Patson Daka for £23m from the Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg on a five-year contract. He was the first new recruit of the transfer window for the Foxes.

Patson Daka joined FC Red Bull Salzburg project in January 2017 after attracting a lot of attention at Kafue Celtics, a Zambian second tier side. He was later on loaned to FC Liefiring.

His four years in the Austrian Bundesliga have been exceptional with his brilliant displays for FC Red Bull Salzburg. He has been a real goal threat in the Austrian league. In the four seasons he's been there, his goals and performances have helped his side win four successive league titles and a total of seven trophies.

Patson Daka for RB Salzburg (Photo by Andreas Schaad/Getty Images)

The Foxes have signed yet another striker, though they already have Jamie Vardy and Iheanacho, but does this come as a surprise? No, not at all. With this signing they now have depth in their striking force. This was one of their biggest hinderances under manager Brendan Rodgers in his past two campaigns.

The importance of Daka for Leicester City

Patson Daka is a goal machine and an expert at finding the back of the net. He has scored 76 goals in his 154 appearances across all competitions.

This includes 34 goals and 12 assists in his 42 appearances last season in all the tournaments Salzburg played in. He netted three hat-tricks while scoring a goal at an average of every 78 minutes last season.

Patson Daka has blistering pace, is athletic and has a good knowledge of when to make diagonal runs across defenders to latch onto through balls. Daka has a non-penalty goal expected ratio of 1.4 per 90 minutes.

Not only does he add depth to the squad but would also be a perfect competition for Vardy and Iheanacho. Iheanacho scored 12 league goals last season for Leicester City.

But most of his goals were scored when he played alongside Vardy or during the second half of the season. Iheanacho played well when he played alongside Vardy and his first goal last season came on Matchday 22.

Vardy, 34, has gotten better with age and has surpassed all expectations. But the threat of injuries will always creep up on him. Daka could be Jamie Vardy's successor given that Iheanacho too needed competition and adding another striker to their squad was the right move by Brendan Rodgers.

Iheanacho reached double figures in goals for the first time in his career and has plenty of time to improve alongside Daka.

It could be a tough transition for Daka, but he has all the right fundamentals that a striker needs. His diagonal movement and brilliant finishing ability being his best attributes will definitely suit Rodgers' style of play. Though it will be important for Leicester City fans to remain patient with him.