The new Haaland? Daka’s Premier League credentials assessed

David Lynch

• Updated: 19 May 2021 14:24 BST
• 2 min read

Premier League clubs have been put on red alert after Patson Daka hinted that he could be ready for a move to England.

In an interview with BBC Sport, the 22-year-old named Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah as players whose careers he would like to follow.

Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham, who have all been linked with a swoop in recent months, are sure to read those quotes with great interest.

Of course, they must first assess whether the Zambia international ready to test himself in the English top-flight.

In fairness to Daka, he could hardly be doing any more for Red Bull Salzburg, who lead the Austrian Bundesliga – albeit having played a game more than second-placed Sturm Graz – during the winter break.

The forward is the second top goalscorer in the division having scored eight goals from just six starts and two substitute appearances thus far.

That translates to a frankly ludicrous return of 1.36 goals per 90 minutes, a record bettered only by teammate Sekou Koita, whose 10 goals have been scored at a rate of 1.65 per game.

Although his shot accuracy of 52% is impressive, Daka isn’t just a player who puts away rare chances – his goals are a result of getting plenty of efforts away during matches.

The striker’s rate of 5.3 shots per 90 is bettered only by Koita (6.4) and Ercan Kara of Rapid Vienna (5.7) in the Austrian Bundesliga this term.

The new Erling Haaland?

So, if Daka is firmly established as one of the best centre-forward’s in Austria, will he be able to translate that to a top European league?

Well, the biggest success on that front in recent memory is Erling Haaland, who did not miss a beat in taking his prolific form to the German Bundesliga.

The Norwegian was scoring 1.5 goals per 90 (just slightly ahead of Daka’s current record) in his final season in Salzburg before joining up with Borussia Dortmund.

And he was actually getting off fewer shots in taking 4.8 per 90 to Daka’s 5.3.

If the Zambian gets a move to team who regularly create opportunities, there is every chance he could become another Salzburg success story.