Karlan Grant has been linked with a move away from Huddersfield Town since almost the moment he arrived at the club. He was signed in the January transfer window of the season we were relegated and it was immediately clear that he was one of the very few players in our squad at the time that deserved to be playing at that level.
The low-level rumours of him wanting to move back to the top-flight have been there since summer 2019 but this desire was confirmed by the club early this summer, making it almost certain he would be on his way out of the door if an acceptable offer came in.
For the last month or so there have been persistent rumours that a deal has been close between Hudderfield Town, West Brom and Karlan Grant but it has not yet got over the line. The speculation about the transfer has rumbled on in the media and Grant has been left out of all Huddersfield Town’s squads this season but we are still left waiting.
Here are a few of my thoughts on this proposed transfer.
What is currently going on with the West Brom deal?
I don’t have any inside knowledge of what’s going on but a rumour emerged yesterday that West Brom would loan Grant from Town for the season and then buy him next summer for a prearranged fee. This might be contingent on West Brom surviving in the Premier League or not, that part wasn’t clear.
It doesn’t really matter because within a few hours of these rumours emerging, The Examiner poured cold water on them by stating no loan deal had been agreed. Not only that, but the kind of deal proposed wouldn’t be agreeable to Huddersfield Town unless the loan fee was so big that it would make more sense to agree a permanent transfer instead.
Steven Chicken at The Examiner has been very reliable this summer with his information about transfer dealings and it’s safe to assume that his source is someone inside the club that knows what’s going on.
So it seems like there’s still no agreement between the clubs on how to conclude this transfer saga despite there being talk both clubs agree on the fee. It seems that the structure of the payments is the real stumbling block, with West Brom short on upfront money because of their other transfer dealings this window and Town keen to get some quick cash through the door to fund reinvestment in the squad (or debt repayment, who knows).
Will Karlan Grant be a good signing for West Brom?
I think Grant could have an excellent season with West Brom if he gets this move. When played in the correct position and given the ball in the right areas of the pitch he will score goals and that’s not easy in the Premier League. He’s already proven when he first signed for Town, when he scored for us despite being in a very poor team that was in freefall at the time. He then banged them in against Championship teams last season, despite Town being a poor team last year too.
Grant is prolific even in a team that isn’t playing well because he is a natural goalscorer and will finish the chances that come his way. If he receives the ball on the left hand side of the penalty area and cuts in on his right then he’ll score eight times out of ten. If you look at his goals in open play for Town they are all almost carbon copies of each other.
Grant’s all round game is improving but nowhere near as accomplished as his finishing skills. He has vastly improved at tracking back during his time in Huddersfield and his first touch has gone from sloppy to OK. His general link up play isn’t the best either but that’s not the kind of player he is, he should be receiving assists from his teammates not the other way around.
Where would he fit in West Brom’s system?
Karlan Grant isn’t a lone striker. We’ve played him in that position because we’ve had no alternatives but it doesn’t suit his skillset at all. As I mentioned above, he isn’t the best at linking up play or holding up the ball to allow others to support him. He needs to be fed the ball so he can either get in behind or twist and turn enough space to get a shot away.
I’m curious about Slaven Billic’s plans for Grant because his most natural position is on the left side of attack, the position which Diangana currently occupies. Obviously, they could switch him to the right to make way for Grant but that means there’s nowhere to put Pereira, as he’s been playing on that wing. Unless Pereira plays in the hole but that would mean changing the system to 4-2-3-1 which is most likely going to be too attacking for the majority of West Brom’s games, where they’ll be playing tough opposition and won’t want to be too open.
My fear is that Grant has been signed to play as a central striker on his own and he will struggle to adapt to a position he’s not suited to. It may be that West Brom’s style of play can get the best out of Grant as the main striker but it’s possible he’ll struggle to fit in if he’s not used effectively.
What does Karlan Grant leaving mean for Huddersfield Town?
The vast majority of Town fans have accepted that Grant wants to leave and have moved on from the disappointment. We won’t be retiring his shirt numbers or sobbing openly in the streets at his departure because it’s been on the cards for so long. His goals kept us in the Championship last season and for that we’ll always be grateful. But the attachment between him and the fans has gone already so it’s now more important for a deal to be concluded so we can move forward.
Josh Koroma, Isaac Mbenza and Adama Diakhaby are the main candidates in Town’s current squad to step into the gap Karlan Grant leaves. However, none of these players are likely to get close to his goal tally this season and we will need at least one more player through the door in this part of the pitch for me to feel satisfied about our options.
My hope is that Huddersfield Town have played hardball over the structure of the deal because they want some money up front to spend on a decent replacement. The realities of the financial world we live in means that only a fraction of Grant’s fee would be reinvested into new players but I would hope that targets are lined up that have potential to make as big an impact at Town as Grant did.
What’s going to happen next in this transfer saga?
There are a few ways things are going to play out from here:
- West Brom or Town give ground and break the deadlock – It seems like the difference between the two sides of this negotiation isn’t huge, so a small concession by one side or the other might get the deal done.
- Karlan Grant puts in a transfer request – Despite it being abundantly clear that Grant wants to leave, he hasn’t handed in a formal request to leave. I believe this very rarely happens these days because it has major financial implications to the player. But if Grant is so keen to leave he may be willing to take a financial hit to force a deal through.
- Town find another buyer – Proven goalscorers that are a decent age aren’t easy to find and West Brom won’t be the only club with an interest in Karlan Grant. While other clubs may be put off by our valuation at the moment things can change quickly. A losing streak or an injury can change the dynamics and other clubs might come in for Grant.
- Grant stays at Town – This feels like the least likely option but it’s possible that we dig our heels in and won’t sell unless our valuation is met. Rebuilding the relationship with Grant and then getting him playing for us again will take a bit of work but I’ve heard that he’s conducted himself professionally during this period of uncertainty (apart from one misjudged tweet) and I’m sure he’d do a job for us if asked.
To echo what’s said above, we always knew Grant would go, we’ve all seen the Andy Booths, Jon Steads and Jordan Rhodes’ move on to ‘bigger’ and ‘brighter’ pastures. My only worry is that it’s dragged on for a long time. For a change it’s nice to see town being stubborn and not being bullied to sell for a fraction of a players value; but you also have to have one eye on the window and what’s happening with your targets. The longer this goes on, that pool of targets will diminish, with either new contracts signed or other clubs buying them. It’s a fine line to get the most value in a sale and still be in a non desperation buying period; which inevitably comes towards the end of a transfer window, I hope we’ve played our cards at just the right time.
I agree about the timing. We let Mooy go at the end of the last summer window and didn’t have time to get a proper replacement. We can’t make the same mistake again.
Mooy’s transfer was exactly what I was thinking of. It’s hard to say that we would have avoided a relegation battle last season if we had a suitable replacement in for Aaron, as so many players were poor. But we certainly couldn’t have been any worse. Not learning from that mistake could be very costly, especially when it’s not just someone to pull the strings in midfield this time, it’s 19 goals a season we’d be missing!
I may be old fashioned but how can we have a £20m 20 goals a season player kicking his heels and the club in the bottom 10 of the championship, its ridiculous, Corboran should get him at canalside and work his backside off and have him at no9 on Sat. he has not said he does not want to play for the club, so until WBA stop playing silly buggers, he should be part of the Town first team set up, I can’t imagining it hapening with Ian Greaves or Mick Buxton, people are just using todays conditions and the times as an excuse.
I think it’s fair enough to leave a player out when they’re days away from a move and their head has been turned. But it’s now many weeks that this has been dragging on and leaving him on the sidelines means he won’t be match fit for his new club when he does leave. Looking back at some of the chances Town created against Forest, you could easily imagine Grant getting a hat-trick last Friday.
Personally i think the best deal for town bearing in mind West Brom’s brinkmanship is for the scenario go it’s full course and Grant stay at town. My reasoning is that we will not have time to bring in anyone else, always assuming that’s what would happen if he went. To have even a slightly disgruntled Grant is better than no Grant and no one with the potential to knock in 19 goals. It would also be in Grant’s interest to prove his professionalism both in his attitude and his goal scoring prowess to catch the eye of a team in time for the next window (when ever that is going to be), The one caveat to all this is whether or not football is still around for any of this to matter
It’s easy to forget that football isn’t something we can be certain will continue if the second wave comes as expected. I really hope it does carry on, as it feels like getting a bit of normality back even in the current, abnormal, format.
I’d be delighted if we kept hold of Grant but I think we’ll do some sort of deal before the deadline because we need the money.
I felt West Brom have been playing us from the start.
They obviously look like they’ve agreed a fee but simply do not have the money to pay for Grant.
I know football deals because of the size these days tend to be money upfront and a balance paid over x amount of years, but these are not normal times.
Would you accept £5 million now and £13 million over the next 3 years ??
There is simply no guarantee that clubs will survive the pandemic, if West Brom get relegated will parachute payments exist in the same amounts, will they have the money then if they can’t offload players and are being bled dry by wages ?
We are right to get money or most of it upfront, anything else would be upmost stupidity in these times.
West Brom either put up or shut up should now be the mantra, they should be told take it or leave it. I don’t believe we need to sell especially if Kongolo goes.
I’m sorry for Grant but he signed the contract, he was happy to do it.
He’s an adult and he should be happy to stand by it out of his honour or his word.
We aren’t standing in his way
It’s the new club he’s after who don’t have the funds.
Blame them Karlan.
It really is about time we gave West Brom the ultimatum or made him play.
I think you’re right about the club needing to hurry things along. At least it has to be resolved by the transfer deadline but if we don’t sell him we’ll have had our best player missing for the first 4 games of the season for no good reason.
As most of the money Premier League teams have comes from TV deals then it’s fairly likely West Brom will remain solvent unless they go mad with their spending. Broadcasters have had a bit of a refund because of the pandemic but they’re still having to pay the bulk of the deals they’ve agreed. I’d be surprised if the pandemic leads to top-flight clubs going bust, everyone below that level is vulnerable though. More so the lower down the pyramid because the TV deals are tiny in League 2 and below.
The point I was trying to make is we dont know how solvent or well run half these clubs are. Are they over stretched at the minute, if they come down with less parachute money will they still be able to offload players for their value ?, wage demands would be high even if clauses built in.
Would they try and keep the squad together to go back up, have they got the funds to do it.
I agree Premier clubs shouldnt be under that pressure, but they are hardly an established force.
You just need to look at how close Villa were to going under a couple of years ago, before being sold.
You are asking too much money the player wants to go let him go what’s the use in keeping an unhappy player if his heads somewhere else
I don’t think it’s the fee that’s the problem, it’s the structure of the payments. If it were up to me I’d let you pay in 50p pieces from d I wn the back of the sofa if it all added up to the right amount but our Chairman clearly wants a but of cash in his pocket straight away.
We had a very similar situation with Philip Billing last summer, we stuck to our guns and got a good price for him in the end.
I just hope they pull out of the deal altogether and sign habib diallo from fc metz much better player and deal
You can’t know if a player from a farmer’s league can cut it in the Premier League. Grant already has in a rubbish Town team. And he’s younger, so worth more because of potential future sell-on value.
We’ve learned the hard way that players that bagged goals in France often don’t look so good on this side of the channel. That’s reflected in the price for buying players from there. For every Kante there’s a dozen Mbenzas.
Lets just pull out of the deal and end it once and for all nobody else will offer what Wba have offered so he can stay there
Roy, I think you’re confusing the comments section of this blog with the negotiating team from Huddersfield Town and yourself with the West Brom equivalent. It’s starting to get a bit weird. You might find it better to relax and let your club get on with doing deals (or not) rather than fantasising that you have some sort of say on what happens.
Best of luck for the season, whether you sign Grant or not.
Surely the way forward is to let West Brom have Grant on loan for a loan fee of £5M. In exchange we get Grosicki on loan with West Brom paying his wages and they have to buy Grant for £13M if they survive, which they won’t, so Grant comes back to us and if he’s done well in the PL we will get at least £15M even with one year left on his contract. Town’s style going forward will be to get goals from all areas of the pitch and not a 20+ goal a season number 9. You have only to look at Coberan’s mentor, Bielsa, to see how we will play, and Grosicki would provide 10+ in our system from out wide.
There’s more risk involved for Town if we do a loan deal like that if Grant either stinks this season or gets a nasty injury. But there’s a lot of potential benefits too, particularly if we get a good player coming the other way on loan.
The Examiner suggest it’s going to be a permanent deal or not at all, but we’ll have to wait and see. If the deadline gets closer and there’s no breakthrough then we might see some wheeling and dealing going on to get it done.