Coventry sign Baggies striker Thomas-Asante

Brandon Thomas-Asante scored 18 Championship goals over the last two seasons for the Baggies

Coventry City have signed Brandon Thomas-Asante from Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion.

The 25-year-old former Salford City striker has signed a four-year deal to become the Sky Blues' fifth summer signing for an undisclosed fee.

He is also the third Albion player from last season's Championship play-off semi-final squad to find a new home in under 24 hours following Conor Townsend's £750,000 move to Ipswich Town and Matt Phillips' move to Oxford United.

Thomas-Asante was signed by then Albion boss Steve Bruce from League Two club Salford City for an undisclosed fee on August deadline day 2022.

Thomas-Asante scored Albion's second goal in last season's 2-0 win at Coventry

He scored nine league and cup goals before the end of the season - and added a further 11 Championship strikes in 2023-24, including one against the Sky Blues.

Another Championship side, Hull City, had reportedly also been keen on Thomas-Asante but the Sky Blues now have former midfielder George Boateng back at the club as part of their backroom team and the duo share Ghana international connections.

Thomas-Asante won his first cap for Ghana in a World Cup qualifier against the Central African Republic in June.

“Brandon is a powerful and pacy striker who has goalscoring pedigree at this level plus a great attitude and work-rate," said Sky Blues boss Robins.

“He can play across the front line and will further strengthen our attacking options."

Thomas-Asante began his career with his home-town club Milton Keynes Dons, making his professional debut at the age of 17 in 2016.

He had loans at Sutton United and Oxford City before leaving MK in 2019, then had a short spell back in non-league at Ebbsfleet United before joining League Two side Salford.

He scored 30 goals in 126 games and helped his side win the EFL Trophy before being recommended to the Baggies by his Salford team-mate Matt Smith, Bruce's son-in-law.

Analysis - BBC CWR's Rob Gurney on City's hopes for 2024-25

The overwhelming sense of optimism is palpable amongst The Sky Blue Army - in itself an unusual feeling as we've been trained over the decades to hope for the best, but expect the worst.

This season, though, there is a genuine feeling the 'Promised Land' can finally be revisited, for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. So why the feel-good factor?

Aesthetics – a huge revamp of the training ground, and the Coventry Building Society Arena, makes it look like a Premier League club in waiting, and while it's true that they don't own any part of the stadium (and aren't likely to any time soon), Sky Blues branding is now everywhere you look, rather than being an afterthought when a certain rugby franchise were in town.

Recruitment – Jack Rudoni from Huddersfield already looks like an upgrade on the departed Callum O'Hare, with the likes of Ephron Mason-Clark and Brandon Thomas-Asante adding to the exciting options already there, in Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Haji Wright and Ellis Simms.

In fact, keeping everyone in his squad happy may be Mark Robins' biggest task.

Perceived defensive deficiencies may rear their ugly heads, although the arrival of Swedish goalkeeper Oliver Dovin will hopefully allay some of those fears.

One fan summed it up pretty well – it might be a "we're gonna score one more than you" sort of season!