Patson was born on 9 October, 1998 in Kafue, home to the second largest national park in the world, the southern gateway to Zambian mining town Kabwe and the Copperbelt. His first club was Kafue Celtics, where he would play for years as a child, before loan spells at Zambian side Power Dynamos and then FC Liefering in Austria – a club which works closely with the academy at Austrian Football Bundesliga side, Red Bull Salzburg.
At the age of just 16, in 2015, Daka was called up to Zambia’s senior squad to make the first of his 25 appearances for his country. The first of his seven goals for Chipolopolo – The Copper Bullets – came against Algeria in Constantine in 2017.
At the end of 2017, he scooped a brace of awards – the CAF Youth Player of the Year and Zambia Sportsman of the Year – as his stock continued to climb in Africa. Today, Daka has over 25 international caps to his name, notably scoring a brace in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying against Zimbabwe in March 2021.
He initially spent a six-month trial period in Austria at the height of a harsh winter in 2017. Daka, though, impressed and signed a five-year contract with Red Bull Salzburg later in the year. This came after scoring two goals in as many games to help their Under-19s lift the UEFA Youth League – the most prestigious academy tournament in Europe – at the end of 2016/17.
It was a season which also saw Patson represent Zambia at the U20 CAF African Cup of Nations, where he scored four goals, won the Player of the Tournament prize, and lifted the trophy alongside his team-mates after a goalscoring appearance in the final against Senegal.
Back in Austria, cameo appearances from the substitutes’ bench started to present themselves in 2017/18 as Daka also stepped up on the international stage. With Patson now an established member of the starting line-up in 2019/20, Salzburg won their opening seven games, while their Zambian frontman found the net four times.
A debut in the UEFA Champions League came in September as Salzburg defeated Genk 6-2 at Red Bull Arena, and Daka also starred twice in group stage fixtures, home and away, against Liverpool. His opener in November helped seal a 4-1 win in Genk too and made him the first man from Zambia to ever find the net in European football’s platinum club competition.
A hat-tricks of hat-tricks – against Altach, Mattersburg and Hartberg – further underlined his importance to Salzburg, especially after Erling Haaland’s switch to Borussia Dortmund.
Austrian Bundesliga and Austrian Cup honours followed, with Daka scoring 27 goals in all competitions – a tally which he would improve upon again in 2020/21. He was now the main man in Salzburg and his swashbuckling style of play and acrobatic goal celebrations were making headlines across the continent.
A goal in the opening day 3-1 win at Wolfsberger set the tone as another two hat-tricks added more stardust to Patson's reputation. In all, he found the net 34 times last season, helping his team yet again defend their Austrian Bundesliga and Austrian Cup crowns.
Daka, too, was later awarded the Austrian Bundesliga Player of the Season and finished nine goals above team-mate Sékou Koïta in the race for the division's Golden Boot. On 1 July, 2021, a move to the Foxes was confirmed as Patson prepared for his maiden campaign in the Premier League.
His debut, on the other hand, came on 7 August, 2021, as he appeared from the bench in City's 1-0 victory over Premier League champions Manchester City to lift the FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium. His first goal arrived on 16 October in Leicester's 4-2 win over Manchester United at King Power Stadium.
The following Wednesday, Daka made headlines across the continent as he became the first Foxes player since 1958 to score four goals in a single fixture as he netted all the goals in a stunning 4-3 comeback success over Spartak Moscow in the Russian capital in the UEFA Europa League.
Into the New Year, goals against Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion, Randers and Everton took his tally to 11 in his first season in Leicester. He netted another four in all competitions the following season, as City were relegated from the Premier League. Daka has to wait for First Team opportunities under Enzo Maresca in the Sky Bet Championship, but proved his worth over the turn of the year.
Four goals in December helped City win all but one games that month, before also hitting a brace in a 5-0 victory at Stoke City in February after returning from AFCON. The Zambian scored once for his country at the international tournament, although the Chipolopolo exited at the group stage.