"We have got no choice" - Cautious claim made on Karlan Grant after West Brom ace's QPR display | OneFootball

Karlan Grant impressed in Saturday afternoon's 3-1 victory at QPR

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…

Karlan Grant made a surprising impression for West Bromwich Albion during their 3-1 opening-day victory away at QPR on Saturday afternoon, although supporters still remain in division regarding his future at the club.

West Brom initiated their 2024/25 Championship campaign in style over the weekend by seeing off Marti Cifuentes' men by three goals to one away from home, with Josh Maja netting a hattrick.

The result in West London puts them in good stead for Leeds United's visit to the Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon. With the Whites having played out a thrilling 3-3 draw against newly-promoted Portsmouth at Elland Road in their opening encounter, they may fancy a point or even all three against the promotion favourites.

Saturday's outing sprung a fair few surprises though, as not only did Maja score all three goals after enduring an injury-plagued 23/24 season but Grant, who spent the previous term on loan with Cardiff City and has been the subject of much critique from the Baggies faithful over the last two years, also impressed as he played out the full 90 minutes on the left-hand side.

In particular, Grant was commended for his work-ethic and diligence out of possession, which had been a notable sticking point among fans during his time with the club.

Cautious West Brom, Karlan Grant view given

Despite the forward's solid performance against the R's, he still has plenty of work to do in order to revive his career in the West Midlands according to Football League World's Baggies pundit Matt Smith, who is not Grant's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination.

"As much as it pains me to say, I think Grant put a shift in on Saturday," Matt told Football League World.

"I mean it's one game, but I suppose with the lack of depth we've got no other option than to keep him right now.

"I'm not going to get carried away because it's one game and it's certainly not enough to prove me wrong, but for now he's got to stick around because we haven't got enough depth.

"But in a dream world, maybe if we could bring back [Mikey] Johnston and sign another player for that position then I think we could benefit from selling him. Maybe nobody's going to pay a fee so instead we could loan him out and get him off the wage bill, but I don't think he's done enough to prove himself and prove me wrong.

"At the moment, we have got no choice but to keep him sticking around as we're down to the bare bones."

Karlan Grant could continue to surprise West Brom fans

Upon signing Grant on loan last summer, Cardiff were warned of Grant's perceived laziness and lack of commitment. Such criticisms came following a dismal campaign for West Brom in which he scored just three times in the Championship, a marked deterioration from fruitful goalscoring seasons of the past.

Unfortunately for the Bluebirds, they didn't get to see a revival regarding Grant's fortunes infront of goal as he scored six goals from 39 Championship appearances, but he did win over fans with his consistently solid and assured displays, strong work-ethic and willingness to track back and cover defensive ground.

It now feels as though Grant is an extremely different profile of player to the goalscoring - if deficient off-the-ball - dynamo he was earlier on his career, but he still has a purpose for West Brom this season.

While perhaps no longer at the level to be starting for a team with serious ambitions of a top-six finish, he can still be a very handy squad player. Committed to doing the hard yards when possession is with the opposition, Grant's positional awareness and determination helped Cardiff to see off close contests last term and he could well do the same for the Baggies.

He's also fairly effective with his ball-carrying, which, of course, is a non-negotiable from wingers in a Carlos Corberan side.

All things considered - and especially West Brom's dearth of options in wide areas at the minute - Grant is probably worth keeping around unless they can command an acceptable fee for his services.