Frank Lampard has turned Coventry City star into 'prime Tevez' - 'I remember West Brom fans laughing' | OneFootball

FLW's Sky Blues Fan Pundit is over the moon to be proven wrong about former Baggies frontman Brandon Thomas-Asante

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

There is Coventry City delight at being proven wrong about Brandon Thomas-Asante, after the forward continued his superb start to the 25/26 season with another goal against Blackburn Rovers last Saturday.

The Ghana international has seemingly transformed from an inconsistent performer during his first season at the club to one of the Championship's most dangerous attackers under Frank Lampard's management.​

Thomas-Asante arrived at Coventry from West Bromwich Albion in August 2024 for a fee reported to be around £2.25 million, with the potential to rise to £3 million with add-ons.

Given the fairly large fee, Baggies’ fans surely believed their club had secured an excellent deal for a player who had scored 18 league goals across two seasons at The Hawthorns.

Coventry City "proven wrong" about Brandon Thomas-Asante

FLW's Sky Blues Fan Pundit, Chris Deez, was full of praise for the 26-year-old forward - noting that his transformation under Lampard has been nothing short of remarkable.

"I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong about a player than Thomas-Asante," Deez told FLW.

"He’s been fantastic this season, I was very critical of him last season, he scored that wondergoal against Swansea - but then other than popping up every now and again with the odd goal and assist, he was just very, very inconsistent," he added.

The Fan Pundit referenced the spectacular long-range strike that Thomas-Asante scored against Swansea in February - a stunning 40-yard lob over Lawrence Vigouroux.

However, such moments of brilliance were too infrequent during his debut season, leading to frustration among supporters who perhaps had hoped for more consistency from the summer signing.

"We paid a couple of million for him, and I remember West Brom fans laughing and rubbing their hands with glee because they thought that they’d pulled our pants down, and for a little while it did seem as though they had," Deez continued.

"He didn’t look anything special after having a pretty decent season for West Brom, but what a season he’s having - I don’t think anybody expected this of him."

Brandon Thomas-Asante has turned into "prime Tevez" for Coventry City

Deez highlighted the all-round improvement in Thomas-Asante's performances this season.

"He just always looks dangerous, he works his socks off, he tracks back all the time. He's starting to remind me a little bit of like prime Tevez," Deez said, drawing comparisons to the legendary Argentine forward Carlos, known for his relentless work rate and goal threat.

The striker's improved form has earned him international recognition, with Thomas-Asante receiving a call-up to the Ghana national team for their World Cup qualifiers earlier this month.

"Obviously he’s been rewarded with a call-up to the Ghana national team and he scored for them as well," Deez noted.

Thomas-Asante replaced the injured Inaki Williams for the games against Central African Republic and Comoros, scoring his first goal for the Black Stars in a previous international tournament.

Claims about a Brandon Thomas-Asante "purple patch" turned down

When asked whether Thomas-Asante's remarkable form represents a temporary purple patch or genuine improvement, Deez was adamant that the transformation appears permanent.

"I don’t think it’s necessarily a purple patch because we’re already like a quarter of the way through the season. He’s scored more goals than he did in all of last season already, got the same amount of assists and he’s only four or five goals off his really good season for West Brom before we signed him."

The stats support this assessment. Thomas-Asante's six goals in nine Championship matches this season have already surpassed his aforementioned four-goal return from 32 league appearances in 24/25.

His current scoring rate puts him on course for a career-best campaign, potentially exceeding the 11 Championship goals he managed for West Brom two years ago.

Deez placed Thomas-Asante's renaissance within the context of Lampard's wider impact on the Coventry squad. "He's one of about three or four players that Lampard has just taken from obscurity and turned them into little stars - along with Jay DaSilva, Liam Kitching and Josh Eccles," the Fan Pundit explained.

"You can see the impact that Lampard has had because all of those players I’ve just named, it’s night and day from how they were playing for Robins last season," Deez concluded.