KEY POINTS

  • Paston Daka is close to joining Leicester City this summer
  • He was also the target of Liverpool and West Ham
  • He scored 34 goals and assisted 12 for Salzburg in the 2020-21 season

Liverpool FC’s target forward Patson Daka of RB Salzburg has reportedly snubbed the Anfield side for rivals Leicester City in the underway summer market.

Daka held talks with Liverpool before rejecting the Jurgen Klopp side, reported soccer website Zambian Football. However, International Business Times could not verify it independently.

The Zambia national forward has agreed to personal terms with Leicester and the King Power Stadium side is expected to make the transfer official soon, according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, who has a credible record in European transfer markets.

Apart from Liverpool and Leicester City, West Ham were also interested in signing Daka ahead of the upcoming 2021-22 season.

Liverpool have tasted immense success under Klopp over the years, having won the 2018-19 Champions League, 2019 UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and the 2019-20 Premier League. Despite this, Daka rejected the Reds because FA Cup winners Leicester City have offered him more guaranteed game time, according to media outlet HITC.

In the 2020-21 season, where Liverpool failed to win a single trophy, Klopp’s side struggled collectively, especially the front three. Even though Mohamed Salah netted 22 goals in the Premier League, it was not good enough for Liverpool. Meanwhile, the duo of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino experienced their worst season at Anfield in terms of goals scored per game, according to the soccer website Teamtalk.

Diogo Jota, who moved from Wolves to Liverpool in the summer of 2020, flourished initially in his debut season before he was out with injury.

It is also understood that Liverpool are planning to offload Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri and planning to bring in Daka to fill the void. When Erling Haaland left RB Salzburg for Borussia Dortmund during the 2020 January transfer window, Daka took little time to become an ideal successor of the Norwegian forward.

Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund
Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund celebrates after scoring their team's first goal during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Signal Iduna Park on May 22, 2021 in Dortmund, Germany. Sporting stadiums around Germany remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. Getty Images/Matthias Hangst

Daka finished the 2019-20 season for Salzburg with 27 goals in 45 matches. He bettered his record in the following campaign. He netted 34 goals and 12 assists 42 games for Salzburg, across all competitions, helping Salzburg win the Austrian league for the eighth consecutive time.

Daka, 22, kickstarted his soccer career at Nchanga Rangers, a Zambian soccer club. He rose through the youth ranks there. He played at a few other clubs on loan before Salzburg signed him on a five-year contract in 2017.

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