West Brom urged to avoid "similar situation" with Karlan Grant as Hawthorns future discussed | OneFootball

Grant is about to enter the final year of his long-term contract

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...

Despite being one of the sides expected to mount a promotion bid, the 2024/25 season will go down as one of frustration for West Bromwich Albion

After achieving a first top-six berth since their relegation from the Premier League in 2021 under Carlos Corberan and last February's takeover by Shilen Patel, optimism was high that a similar feat, if not better, could be achieved in this part of the West Midlands.

However, the Baggies are now heading into 2025/26 with uncertainty creeping over The Hawthorns as the American owner searches for the third boss of his reign as Tony Mowbray was unable to maintain Albion's play-off bid following Corberan's winter departure to Valencia.

At the time of the 61-year-old's dismissal, it was already confirmed that Grady Diangana and John Swift would be leaving the club, whilst Adam Armstrong returns to Southampton after an underwhelming loan stint, leaving the likes of top-scorer Josh Maja, Daryl Dike and Karlan Grant as some of the club's main striking options.

The latter has endured a mixed spell in B71 since his £15m move from Huddersfield Town in October 2020, and FLW asked our resident Baggies fan pundit, Callum Burgess, how he sees the summer panning out for the 27-year-old.

West Brom urged to avoid "similar" contract scenario with Karlan Grant

Grant has now overseen five of the six years on his long-term contract, featuring 145 times and scoring 31 goals, with a loan spell at Cardiff City sandwiched in between during the 2023/24 season.

Speaking to FLW, Burgess cited last summer as a key warning to the Albion hierarchy when entertaining offers for the forward, as they saw all of Okay Yokuslu, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Conor Townsend all departing as they entered the final years of their respective spells in the West Midlands.

"With one year left on his deal, I think it might be a similar situation to the one Albion got themselves into last summer, as the likes of Yokuslu, Thomas-Asante and Townsend were left with one year left on their contracts and the club chose to cash in on them and recoup some of their remaining value whilst they could," he explained.

"I wouldn't say he (Grant) had a great season, but a good year and was one of Albion's better players in a disappointing year for the club," Burgess claimed.

"Obviously, he started really well, coming back from pre-season and impressing. But, I don't think he's someone Albion could rely on to get promoted.

"I think, if an offer of more than £4m came in for him, it might be something to consider," our fan pundit stated. "But saying that, even if he stayed around as a squad player and started a fair amount of matches, I wouldn't be opposed to that.

"He's not someone I'd be desperate to sell. There's definitely players such as Jed Wallace who I'd rather see go before him.

"It would be a nice story for Grant to get his head down for another year, perform well and hopefully give Albion the best chance of getting promoted," Burgess concluded.

Karlan Grant would be a useful option for West Brom to retain next season

Whilst this particular summer could see the Albion board potentially look to offload Grant, who is ESTIMATED to have been the joint-fifth highest permanent earner at the club this season with a weekly wage of £20,000, the truth is, a player of his calibre and experience would provide a new manager with a useful squad player.

The former Charlton Athletic man has been utilsed in an array of attacking positions this term, ironically with the majority of his seven-goal haul coming when used in the 'number 10' role.

As Burgess alluded to, it has been a respectable campaign for the 27-year-old, who could come out firing under a new manager. Although the same could be said for January recruit Tammer Bany and Maja when he returns from injury, as well as Dike, who returned to form after another lengthy spell on the sidelines, with the American netting and assisting against Luton in Saturday's 5-3 thriller.