The winger joined Charlton Athletic after an inconsistent debut campaign at Leeds United but has failed to answer concerns about his end-product.
If there was one major, stand-out criticism of Jordan Botaka’s debut season in English football, it was without doubt his tally of zero goals and one assist in Leeds United colours.
Nicknamed ‘The Wizard’ for his touchline trickery at former club Excelsior, the Congolese international had more in common with those magicians you hire for children’s birthday parties. Entertaining at first but the novelty quickly wears off.
Consequently, few eyebrows were raised when Botaka was farmed out on loan to Charlton Athletic for the season, especially when Garry Monk replenished Leeds’ attacking ranks with the signings of Kemar Roofe, Pablo Hernandez and Hadi Sacko.
And, despite netting against Northampton at the weekend and generally wreaking havoc with his powerful runs if not consistent crosses, you get the feeling that Botaka has already missed his chance at Elland Road with Leeds pushing on from mid-table to the play-offs in his absence.
After all, that strike in the 2-1 defeat at Sixfields was only his second of the season – if Leeds fans are concerned about the inconsistency of Sacko and Roofe, then Botaka’s form at The Valley has hardly suggested that he would offer anything more in terms of end product.
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