Team

Patson Daka completes his first session as a HSV player

After an eventful first few hours as a HSV player, Patson Daka took part in his first training session with the Rothosen, immediately bringing pace, energy and plenty of good humour to the pitch.

“To be honest, it’s been a crazy 48 hours and a really long day today. I’m just happy that everything is done and that I’m now part of the club,” said Daka at around 22:00 CEST on Tuesday evening in the ‘Ideenglimmer’ conference room at the Aqua Dome, while filming content for his unveiling as a new signing. The 27-year-old Zambian had endured a gruelling day: arriving in Hamburg, completing his medical at the Volkspark, flying to Innsbruck, travelling by car to Oberlängenfeld and finally being welcomed at the team hotel, where he signed his contract and took part in his first photoshoot. It goes without saying that, as a footballer, Daka would much rather have been out on the pitch.

Straight into the thick of things

The striker will therefore have been all the happier when he collected his training clothes from kitman Miro Zadach on Wednesday morning (22nd July) and was finally able to immerse himself into the Rothosen’s daily training routine. Although, of course, there was nothing particularly routine about it for the new arrival: meeting his teammates for the first time at breakfast, his first team meeting with the new coaching staff and then his first bike ride to the training ground as an HSV player.

For ‘Pato’, as Daka is known, plenty was new, but once he stepped onto the pitch at 10:52, things quickly began to feel rather more familiar. After a short prayer and making the sign of the cross before crossing the touchline, the right-footer made his way onto the grass and immediately looked at home in the opening rondo. Alongside Yussuf Poulsen, Albert Grønbæk and Nicolas Capaldo, the mood was upbeat from the off. Their group was the loudest on the pitch and the new signing clearly had plenty to smile about.

A man for goals...

From there, the intensity increased with a series of drills with the ball, including a 12-v-9+3 exercise using two full-size and eight mini goals. Wearing a yellow bib, Daka operated as a neutral attacking player, always joining the team in possession, and registered his first goal with a low finish into one of the full-size nets.

“I’m a passionate and energetic player whose job is to score goals. I think that’s exactly how I can help the team,” said the 1.83m-tall forward. His record certainly backs that up. Daka has made 317 senior appearances across spells with Leicester City (165), RB Salzburg (125) and FC Liefering (27), scoring 103 goals. Across his 16,699 minutes of senior football, ‘Pato’ has averaged a goal in nearly every second game.

...and intensity without the ball

Daka is not simply a goalscorer, however. His pace, acceleration and willingness to run in behind make him a constant threat in the final third, while he also brings plenty of intensity out of possession.

“He combines energy, pace and runs in behind with real intensity when pressing,” explained director of sport Claus Costa. The new signing, whose development within the Red Bull system gave him a strong tactical grounding in this area, offered an early glimpse of those qualities during the subsequent 11-v-11 exercise on a reduced-size pitch. As planned, he then moved into an individual session with fitness coach Sebastian Capel after an hour.

Having been without a club prior to his move to Hamburg, Daka had most recently been training individually. The likeable, down-to-earth Zambian will be able to continue getting to know his new surroundings at HSV’s fan event this afternoon.

Welcome, ‘Pato’!