Bristol City player exit has seriously boosted Coventry City: View | OneFootball

In hindsight, Bristol City may be ruing their decision to allow Jay Dasilva to leave on a free last summer after his performances for Coventry City this season.

Dasilva spent five years at Ashton Gate, initially joining the club on loan from Chelsea for the 2018/19 season before making his deal with the Robins permanent the following summer.

However, he would depart BS3 in the summer of 2023 as the player and the club were unable to renegotiate his contract, only willing to offer significantly reduced terms on the deal he had signed in 2019 prior to the pandemic and the subsequent impact that had on the club's finances.

This meant that the defender became a free agent, and the Sky Blues were quick to swoop for the former Chelsea man, announcing his signing at the end of May.

Jay Dasilva's time at Coventry City

The left-back has been a regular starter at Championship level for Coventry City this season, starting 20 of the club's 33 league games this season.

He's made a further seven appearances from the bench and has proved to be a smart signing from Mark Robins as the club look to go one better than last season and win promotion to the Premier League.

Dasilva's performances for Coventry also saw him called into the Wales national team squad for the first time, receiving a call-up for their crucial European Championship qualifiers in November, where they faced Armenia and Turkey.

The 25-year-old didn't feature on that occasion but with a potential Euros campaign in the summer for Wales, Dasilva will be hoping he can force his way into Rob Page's squad.

Dasilva has mostly as a left wing-back for Coventry thanks to his pace. He's yet to find the back of the net this season but has registered four assists, two in the league against Cardiff City and Leicester City, and two in the FA Cup replay against Sheffield Wednesday.

The defender's statistics in the Championship show what an effective player he has been from the left flank. His expected assists (3.38), chances created (41) and successful crosses (21) are all among the top 10% at his position (Fotmob) while he's looked after possession well, completing 828 passes at an 85% success rate.

Dasilva has proven a reliable defensive option as well - he averages 1.1 tackles a game, recovers 4.4 balls per game, and is only dribbled past 0.4 times per game (Sofascore). Importantly, the summer arrival has made just one error leading to a shot this season and has made no errors leading to goals showing that Dasilva is solid in both attack and defence.

On a free transfer, and at 25, Dasilva was a very shrewd signing as he possesses a wealth of Championship experience and is a player with plenty of years ahead of him.

Coventry have arguably been a model club over the past couple of seasons and signings like this only help to reinforce that.

Bristol City will have wished they could have kept Jay Dasilva

Dasilva was popular amongst the Bristol City supporters and many will have wished he could've been kept around.

He very nearly left in January, with Coventry keen to take over the last six months of his deal at Ashton Gate to bring him to the Midlands, but a deal never materialised.

With that in mind, it always seemed likely that Dasilva would join Coventry the following summer and, despite not always being in the Robins' starting XI last season, Dasilva leaving felt like a blow for the club given his years of service, Championship experience and popularity amongst supporters.

In an ideal world, Bristol City would have had the finances to keep him at the club, but given his injuries and the club's need to bring down the wage bill, it made sense to let him leave while in Cam Pring and Hayden Roberts, they are now well stocked at left-back.

The Robins' loss really has been Coventry City's gain, and with a deal at the CBS Arena until 2027, there will be plenty of time for Dasilva to go from strength to strength in Mark Robins' side.