Huddersfield Town took Charlton Athletic transfer gamble - it landed them millions | OneFootball

Karlan Grant joined the Terriers in January 2019 while they were in the Premier League, and he made a strong impact in his one full season.

Huddersfield Town needed salvation in January 2019, with their relegation back to the Championship set to be confirmed quickly if points were not picked up.

The Terriers turned to League One to find their hope, with Karlan Grant leaving Charlton Athletic for £2m to move up to the Premier League, after impressing greatly with the Addicks as they mounted a play-off challenge of their own.

The then 21-year-old was due to be out of contract at the end of the campaign, and bringing in a player who was unproven at a level higher than the third was a huge risk for the West Yorkshire outfit, but it was one that they were willing to take.

Huddersfield were rock bottom of the Premier League when Grant arrived, with a significant gap to safety making their survival all but impossible, and the young forward was hoping to hit the ground running.

Karlan Grant made a good start to life at Huddersfield Town after transfer gamble was activated

Although his team were struggling at the foot of the table, it was an excellent opportunity for the ex-Charlton man to show his quality in a low-pressure environment.

He came off the bench in his first two matches for the Terriers, scoring in just his second game in the Premier League as Arsenal ran out 2-1 winners at the John Smith's Stadium.

Grant was showing signs of being a star in his first few months in blue-and-white, ending the 2018/19 campaign with four goals in 13 top flight appearances as Huddersfield crashed back down to the Championship.

Despite their relegation, supporters were excited to see what their £2m signing could do in a lower division, and he instantly got off the mark in the second tier, firing in a penalty in a 2-1 defeat to Derby County on the opening weekend of the season.

He scored three in his first three for the Terriers in the Championship, but his team were finding life difficult despite exiting a tough league, and points were hard to come by. Despite this, Grant continued to score goals, ending 2019 with 12 goals.

He had lived up to expectations, while his teammates failed to impress at all, with Huddersfield hovering just above the relegation places at the turn of the year.

They needed to be stronger in the second half of the campaign to ensure that they did not suffer a dismal double relegation, and Grant had to continue to score to help this.

Huddersfield netted an extremely healthy profit from the sale of Karlan Grant - they were the winners of the deal

Despite his early season form, the 22-year-old was not able to continue to find the back of the net, registering just five goals in the rest of 2019/20 as Huddersfield managed to stave off an embarrassing drop to League One.

However, it was going to prove to be a tough summer for the Yorkshire club, with interest starting to be shown in Grant after his excellent first full year in the Championship.

West Bromwich Albion submitted a £15m bid for the forward in October 2020, as the Baggies looked for survival in the Premier League, with Huddersfield accepting the offer.

Grant made the switch to The Hawthorns soon after, leaving behind the Terriers after their disappointing season in the second tier, but he struggled to make an impact in the top flight of English football.

In the years that followed though, Grant has proven himself to be a solid forward at Championship level, but nowhere near worth the £15 million that the Baggies forked out for his services.

Recent evidence has showed that the Terriers played a blinder by not only sorting out a bargain deal to bring the forward to West Yorkshire in the first place, but also for cashing in at the right time and for as big a fee as they got.