Pelenda Joshua Tunga Dasilva (born 23 October 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Brentford. He is a graduate of the Arsenal Hale End Academy and was capped by England at youth level.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pelenda Joshua Tunga Dasilva[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1998-10-23) 23 October 1998 (age 23)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Ilford, England | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Brentford | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2015 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2018 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2018– | Brentford | 104 | (18) |
| National team | |||
| 2017 | England U19 | 3 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | England U20 | 9 | (0) |
| 2020 | England U21 | 5 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:52, 3 September 2022 (UTC) | |||
Dasilva began his career with Arsenal and joined the club's Hale End academy at the age of eight.[3] He progressed through the ranks and moved from left wing to forward,[4] before settling into a box-to-box midfield role,[5][6] under the guidance of Thierry Henry and Kwame Ampadu.[7] After scoring 28 goals during the first year of his scholarship,[6] he signed his first professional contract in August 2015 and was an unused substitute for the first team on two occasions during the 2016–17 season.[1][8] Dasilva was an unused substitute on seven occasions during the first half of the 2017–18 season and made three appearances, all in EFL Cup matches.[1] Despite progressing into the U23 team,[9] Dasilva failed to see a pathway into the first team squad turned down a new contract at the end of the 2017–18 season.[7] He was released on 30 June 2018.[3]
On 21 August 2018, Dasilva joined Championship club Brentford on a four-year contract, with the option of an further year, on a free transfer.[3] After overcoming some fitness issues,[10] he made his debut as a substitute for Josh McEachran late in a 2–0 win over Millwall on 3 November 2018.[11] Either side of the New Year, Dasilva made sporadic substitute appearances in league matches and made two FA Cup starts, before breaking into the starting lineup in March 2019.[1] On 19 April 2019, he scored the first senior goal of his career in the return match versus Millwall, with "an unstoppable curling effort into the top corner from 30 yards",[12] which saved a 1–1 draw.[11] Dasilva finished the 2018–19 season with 21 appearances and one goal.[11]
After beginning the 2019–20 season in a substitute role,[1] Dasilva heeded head coach Thomas Frank's call to up his workrate and intensity.[7] He subsequently broke into the starting lineup in early October 2019 and came into form,[1] scoring six goals in a 10-match spell, which included the first hat-trick of his career in a 7–0 win over Luton Town on 30 November.[13] His November 2019 performances saw him nominated for the EFL Championship Player of the Month award.[14] By the time Brentford's season ended with defeat in the 2020 Championship play-off Final,[15] Dasilva had made 47 appearances and scored 10 goals.[13]
During the 2020–21 season, after seven appearances and two goals,[16] Dasilva signed a new four-year contract on 4 October 2020.[17] His performance and goal in a 1–0 EFL Cup quarter-final victory over Premier League club Newcastle United on 22 December was recognised with a place in the EFL Cup Team of the Round.[16][18] In the following round versus Tottenham Hotspur, Dasilva was sent off for the first time in his senior career after receiving a straight red card for a challenge on Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.[16][19] By the time his season was ended by a hip injury in late February 2021,[20] Dasilva had made 35 appearances and scored seven goals.[16] In his absence, Brentford were promoted to the Premier League after victory in the 2021 Championship play-off Final.[21]
Having spent four of the previous six months on crutches,[20] Dasilva was left off Brentford's 25-man Premier League squad for the first half of the 2021–22 season.[22] After the window transfer window closed, he was named in the club's updated 25-man Premier League squad.[23] Following two behind closed doors friendly appearances, Dasilva made his first competitive appearance of the season as a substitute for Mads Roerslev after 72 minutes of a 4–1 FA Cup fourth round defeat to Everton on 5 February 2022.[20] Dasilva was sent off on his fourth league appearance on 26 February and a hamstring injury suffered while suspended saw him miss a further seven weeks.[1][24] He played the remainder of the season in a substitute role and ended the campaign with 10 appearances.[25]
Following off-season training with a personal coach alongside former Arsenal teammate Marcus McGuane, Dasilva returned fully fit for the 2022–23 season and scored in each of his first two appearances of the regular season.[24][26]
Dasilva was a part of the England U19 squad which won the 2017 UEFA European U19 Championship and made three appearances in the tournament.[3][27] He appeared in each match of the U20 team's 2017–18 Under 20 Elite League campaign and was a late inclusion in the squad for the 2019 Toulon Tournament.[28][29] Dasilva won five caps and scored one goal for England at U21 level, all in 2021 UEFA European U21 Championship qualifying matches.[1] In February 2020, Dasilva stated that he would be open to playing for Angola.[30]
Dasilva is of Angolan descent.[30] He attended Beal High School in Redbridge, London.[4]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Arsenal | 2016–17[31] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017–18[32] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Brentford | 2018–19[11] | Championship | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20[13] | 42 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 47 | 10 | |||
| 2020–21[16] | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | 35 | 7 | |||
| 2021–22[25] | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23[26] | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 104 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 2 | — | 3 | 0 | 120 | 20 | |||
| Career total | 104 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 123 | 20 | ||
England U19
Brentford F.C. – current squad | |
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