Since signing for the Club from Benfica, the centre-back had already enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at the Etihad Stadium – but two major honours had just evaded his grasp.
That was until the curtain fell on last term.
Having made 41 and 50 appearances respectively across the previous two seasons, the Portuguese defender’s importance to Pep Guardiola was clear for all to see.
And that was once again reflected from the first kick-of the ball last term as he was a permanent figure in the heart of our defence – making a further 43 outings last term.
His value to City was perfectly highlighted when examining our goals conceded per game when he was in and out of the starting XI.
Across all competitions last season, Guardiola’s side conceded one goal per game when he wasn’t playing from the first whistle, compared to 0.6 when he was.
Not only did he make an immense impact across the backline, but his formidable presence allowed us to build from the back with the Blues outscoring our opponents by 2.2 goals per 90 minutes in the Premier League with Dias on the pitch, the best goal differential rate of any player who played 500 or more league minutes.
A player who likes to dominantly defend first and foremost, Dias also showcased his exceptional ability in all departments as City iconically completed the Treble.
In all competitions, the 26-year-old completed the second highest number of passes in a sky blue shirt (bettered only by Rodrigo) with 3180.
This also saw him record the second highest in the Premier League (1921) and Champions League (907), again only the Spanish midfielder recorded more.
An imperative arsenal in Guardiola’s armoury.
Dias also didn’t have to wait long in the season for a landmark goal in his City career to arrive, as he netted his maiden Champions League goal in sky blue in a group game with Sevilla.
Thanks to goals from Erling Haaland (two) and Phil Foden, we already possessed a strong lead going into second-half injury time, but a neat move saw Joao Cancelo drill a ball across the face of goal where the defender had ghosted into the six-yard area and tapped home.
But it was his excellent defending across the campaign that grabbed the headlines.
And alongside John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker, he was a member of the toughest defence at home domestically and against European powerhouses.
In the Champions League specifically, he recorded our second highest amount of tackles and the most amount of blocks in all competitions, highlighting his immense capability of spotting and nullifying danger.
As the season reached fever pitch, Dias formed a tremendous partnership with John Stones – allowing the England international to maraud into midfield.
Following our pulsating 4-1 victory over Arsenal at the Etihad in April, the duo played eight of the next nine games together – with Dias sitting out of our 1-0 win over Chelsea after the Premier League title was already secured.
This included our exhilarating 4-0 Champions League second leg win over Real Madrid which booked our place in the competition’s showpiece in Istanbul.
After the seismic success over Los Blancos, City were placed even further under the microscope as claiming the Treble came into full focus.
Dias, though, was relishing the added eyeballs on our performances stating after our FA Cup final triumph “We love the pressure. Since a long time, the pressure has been on and we love it.”
This, of course, proved to be true as we historically lifted the famous European trophy for the first time in the Club’s illustrious history thanks to Rodri’s iconic second-half piledriver.
As the shutters fell on the 2022/23 campaign, Dias’ sparkling trophy cabinet in sky blue was complete.
However, with his immense mentality, he will only look to add more to his honours list after cementing his place in football’s elite roster and as an irreplaceable player in City’s ranks.
