Carlos Corberan reveals Karlan Grant's West Brom message from start of summer

Corberan, who is expected to take a rotated squad to face League Two Fleetwood in the EFL Cup tonight, revealed attacker Grant wants to stay and fight at The Hawthorns.

Grant, 26, was loaned to Cardiff last season but has been a regular for Albion in pre-season and impressed in Saturday’s opening-day win at QPR.

Corberan said: “I am focused on working with the players we have right now. The changes, they can happen but I don’t know.

“I must work with the players I have and to get the best from him. Grant is a very good player, I know that. He went on loan, played minutes, came back with a desire to give his best to the club.

“After, we’ll assess the full situation – but what I will say is that Grant has come back, is working very hard to help the club. He’s motivated. He’s in the squad. From day one, he wanted to stay here and work hard.”

Grant joined Albion in 2020 in a six-year deal worth £15million – a fee the Baggies continue to pay Huddersfield over the period of the attacker’s contract.

The former Charlton prospect impressed in his second season at The Hawthorns in 2021/22, where he fired 18 goals, but has been on the fringes since Corberan’s appointment in October 2022.

The head coach immediately made it clear he sees Grant more as a left-sided attacker, rather than the centre-forward role he had played earlier in his Albion career. But Albion loaned Grant to Cardiff last season to help recoup some of his salary amid financial concerns under former owner Guochuan Lai.

Grant made 39 Championship appearances for the Bluebirds and netted six goals. It is understood he has been in sharp form during pre-season and Grant looks set to compete with Villa loanee Lewis Dobbin, who checked in last week, for the left-sided role. Grady Diangana, currently injured, can play there too.

“I saw him as one of the players who contributed more to the result, but it is true there is not one player who did not have a positive contribution in the game,” Corberan said of Grant’s impact at Loftus Road on Saturday.

“I cannot tell you one player who did not compete at the level you need to win a football game.

“From the first day working here, I cannot complain ever about Grant’s attitude.

“It is true we decided to loan him last year for different reasons, now he is here with us and I have said he is a player showing desire to be part of the squad.”