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This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...

As confirmed by the club's official website, England U21 international Jay Dasilva has left Chelsea to join Bristol City on a permanent deal after spending last season on loan at Ashton Gate.

What's the word?

The 21-year-old played 32 games for the Championship side last season and had an option to make his move permanent exercised by the club.

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The big silver lining of potentially appointing Frank Lampard as the new manager was the hope that he would be able to bring the best out of the club's academy, but losing Dasilva on a permanent basis even before his arrival, could leave a very bitter taste in the years to come.

The next Ashley Cole

A feature of Derby's play under Lampard last year was the quick tempo and relentless running both on the ball and off it. One man who would have taken to the more attacking-oriented approach by the former Blues midfielder is Dasilva.

Indeed, the full-back's manager at former club Charlton, Lee Bowyer, lavished praise on him last summer by comparing him to ex-Chelsea star Ashley Cole.

Bowyer said: "He’s probably better than Ashley Cole was at his age. I played against Ashley at a young age and everyone knows how good he was. He was probably our best offensive left-back for a long, long time.

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"Jay’s the same. Everybody thinks because he’s small he might struggle. But he’s unbelievable in the air.Everyone thinks ‘we’ll pick him out, we’ll get balls to the far post’ but he uses his body so they don't get a clear header against him. People don't score from it. He’s an exceptional player."

Despite only being 5ft 7in tall, Dasilva has handled himself with aplomb in the physically demanding cauldrons of League One and the Championsip. Having seen him progress year in and year out since bursting through the academy, it's a crying shame and a potentially huge regret if the 21-year-old makes it to the big time to truly haunt Chelsea for letting him go.