Lee Bowyers Hails The Talents Of On-Loan Chelsea Defender

Charlton Athletic interim manager Lee Bowyer has hailed the talents of Chelsea Loanee Jay Dasilva and believes he has made a better progression than Ashley Cole at the same age. The 20-year-old has made 42 appearances for the League One club during the current campaign and his efforts recently saw him earn the Supporters’ Player of the Year award.

Speaking to reporters, Bowyer spoke fondly about the progress of Dasilva this term by saying: “I can’t see why he couldn’t play in the Premier League. He’s very similar I think to Ashley Cole, he’s probably better than Ashley Cole was at his age. I played against Ashley at a young age, everyone knows how good he was, probably our best left-back for a very, very long time. An offensive left back and Jay is the same.”

Dasilva’s progress is obviously good for parent club Chelsea in the long-run but his chances of earning a first-team role appear bleak owing to the competition for places. The Blues only recently recruited Emerson to offer competition to Marcos Alonso in the left wing-back role whilst they also have Davide Zappacosta, who can slot into the position if required.

As such, he could be restricted to another temporary stint away from the club next season, though it may not be with Charlton after they failed to earn promotion to the Championship. The Addicks made a great effort to put themselves within the playoff positions, but they unfortunately could not find a way past Shrewsbury as they succumbed to 1-0 defeat in both legs of the semi-final.

Meanwhile for Chelsea, their league season ended in disappointment as they could not secure a top-four finish but they can still salvage something from their campaign via the FA Cup. The Blues face Manchester United in the final of the Cup competition this weekend and they will be hoping for better luck compared to last season’s final where they lost 2-1 to London rivals Arsenal.