11 goals in 7 games: Reported £20m Arsenal target named Player of the Month

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Reported Arsenal target Patson Daka has been named the Austrian Bundesliga Player of the Month after a stunning start to the 2020/21 season at Red Bull Salzburg.

There is something in the water of the Salzach.

Just nine months after Erling Braut Haaland crossed the alps, there is another ruthless finisher striking fear into the heart of opposition goalkeepers at the front of Jesse Marsch’s free-scoring attack.

Daka finished his breakthrough campaign with 27 goals in 2019/20 and he’s well on his way to bettering that tally this time around.

After just four league games, the 22-year-old has found the net five times already.

In all competitions, if you count his four-goal haul in the 10-0 cup thumping of Bregenz, that tally soars to 11 goals in seven matches.

The Player of the Month award that is now glittering on his mantelpiece, then, is richly deserved.

Football London reported earlier this month that Arsenal’s technical director Edu has identified the £20 million-rated Daka as one of two young strikers on his radar heading towards the January 2021 transfer window, alongside Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard.

“When I saw Patson Daka, what came into my mind is this guy is the next Thierry Henry – and in no time he has proved it,” says Dan Kabwe, who worked with the Zambia international back home at the brilliantly named Power Dynamos.

“Salzburg a stepping stone. He has the potential to go further and meet other challenges. He is capable of making it (at the top level). He is an intelligent boy and full of talent.”

Naby Keita, Sadio Mane, Hwang Hee Chan, Takumi Minamino, Dayot Upamecano, Duje Caleta-Car and the aforementioned Haaland have all stepped off the Salzburg production line in recent years and it seems only a matter of time before Daka is following in their footsteps.