West Brom must still sting from £15m deal - Huddersfield Town are laughing | OneFootball

The Baggies have never seen the best of Karlan Grant since his big-money move to The Hawthorns back in 2020.

Back in 2020, West Brom hobbled over the line to secure automatic promotion back to the Premier League.

Dazzling for the majority of the campaign under Slaven Bilic, Albion faltered when returning to playing behind-closed-doors games during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Black Country outfit failing to win any of their last four league outings.

However, a draw at home with QPR on the final day sparked jubilant scenes both in and outside of The Hawthorns, as West Brom returned to the top-flight following a two-year exile.

As Albion looked to build a squad good enough to take on the step-up of the top-flight, the club brought 11 players into the building.

One of those was Karlan Grant, arriving on a six-year contract from Huddersfield Town for a reported fee of £15 million.

It’s fair to say that the Baggies haven’t been repaid for such a serious showing of investment, with Grant contributing to Albion’s decline over the last few seasons.

Karlan Grant’s mediocre West Brom spell

Karlan Grant linked up at The Hawthorns off the back of scoring 19 goals in the second tier with the Terriers in the 2019-20 term, but he was unable to strike a similar goal-scoring record in the big time.

After making his debut against Burnley, Grant netted in his second game for the club at Brighton, helping Albion earn a point at the Amex Stadium.

Despite a promising start that showed glimpses of quality, Grant would be unable to add to his tally from the other 19 games he featured in, eventually losing his place under Sam Allardyce and being restricted to rare cameos off the substitutes' bench.

After a dismal season that ended with relegation back to the Championship, Grant was expected to hit the ground running and showcase his goalscoring exploits at second tier level.

Despite a chaotic season that involved a change of manager from Valerien Ismael to Steve Bruce, Grant did exactly that and netted 18 times, finishing as Albion’s top scorer for the season, although the Baggies missed out on a play-off place.

However, in 2022-23, Grant’s goals would even dry up at Championship level. The Baggies were heading towards relegation under Steve Bruce after winning just one of their opening 13 games, before Carlos Corberan took over the hotseat.

But a change of management would once again be Grant’s undoing, leading to a reduction in playing time as the squad had a resurgence under the Spaniard.

The pair had not seen eye-to-eye from their time at Huddersfield, and that was on show.

Grant started Corberan’s opening two games but wouldn’t make another appearance from the off until matchday 43 – scoring only three times from 31 appearances.

Such a poor season saw the 27-year-old loaned out to Cardiff City for the 2023-24 season, before returning rejuvenated last season for Corberan.

The Spaniard appreciated his efforts, offering a second chance to the attacker. Grant won over the supporters with his unrelenting work rate and eagerness to make a difference. He scored five out of the seven goals in the first half of the season.

However, his good run of form and spell in the team was once again ripped away when Corberan left on Christmas Eve to join boyhood club Valencia.

Grant would end up faltering under the guidance of Tony Mowbray, and despite being given a lot of chances from the start, he would be used on the left-wing, as a 10 and even leading the line, with such constant chopping and changing of roles leading to his performances nosediving.

Now Grant is hoping to impress under another new boss in Ryan Mason, but his underwhelming displays under multiple regimes leave a lot to be desired.

The signing of Karlan Grant was undoubtedly a gamble, and for the money spent, it’s gone disastrously wrong. The addition of Grant was a series of grave errors under then-owner Guochuan Lai, whose mismanagement both on and off the pitch has left the club stranded in the Championship, with Shilen Patel attempting to pick up the pieces.

The Baggies had the money to attack the summer transfer window with to try and cement their place in the Premier League, and it was puzzling to think that they wanted to spend such a hefty fee for a player who had only scored four goals in the Premier League prior to his move to the Black Country.

Huddersfield Town will have been delighted to get such a significant amount of money for a player that has failed to produce away from the John Smith’s Stadium, with the Terriers well and truly robbing Albion blind.

West Brom have only had one good goal-scoring season out of Grant since he joined the club, and it will be a lesson to the club to recruit players with more top-flight pedigree, should they eventually make it back to the promised land of the Premier League.

Grant enters the final year of his contract at The Hawthorns, and if more poor showings follow, then the Albion faithful will be glad to put an end to such an underwhelming chapter.