"So much sharper" - West Brom: Karlan Grant claim made amid looming Mikey Johnston threat | OneFootball

Grant has made an exceptional start to the new season, something that has come as a huge surprise.

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...

West Bromwich Albion are currently top of the Championship table ahead of matchday six in the 2024/25 campaign.

Carlos Corberan has masterminded an unbeaten start to the new season, and has been able to bring performances out of players that had perhaps been written off before a ball was even kicked.

One of those players to have had an excellent first five games is Karlan Grant. The attacker spent the 2023/24 season on loan at Cardiff City, where he failed to impress, and on his return to The Hawthorns, not many expected much from him this season.

However, he has been excellent on the wing for the Baggies, and is now giving his manager somewhat of a selection headache ahead of the visit of Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

Mikey Johnston was brought in on deadline day from Celtic for a reported £3 million after a fantastic loan spell at the back end of last season, and there will be great competition for a place on the left-wing.

Corberan has a huge decision to make for this weekend's match

Following such a successful start, it can be said that the Spaniard should not change his winning formula, but with the performances that Johnston has produced in the past for West Brom, there could be a change.

The Republic of Ireland international scored seven goals in 18 games for the Baggies during his loan spell, and he made a short cameo in last Sunday's 3-0 win away to Portsmouth.

With such a huge decision on the cards, Football League World asked their West Brom Fan Pundit, Callum Burgess, about who he thinks Corberan will choose to start against Plymouth.

He said: "I think a lot of fans will be wanting Mikey Johnston to come into the team as soon as possible, but obviously, Grant’s first five games this year have seen him become the most popular he has been among the fanbase in his entire Albion career.

"That includes the time under Valerien Ismael and Steve Bruce when the team weren’t playing well, and he still managed 19 goals, but even then he wasn’t remotely popular.

"In the first five games of this season he's been putting 110% in every single one. He's looked so much sharper since he came back in preseason and Corberan seems to be really impressed by him as well," Callum told FLW.

"I think this might be a case of it being his last game starting and Mikey Johnston gets at least half an hour off the bench, and then it might be next week onward that it'll be Johnston's place to lose.

"But at the moment it's a bit of a competition between those at the moment which no one would have seen coming."

West Brom must avoid any loss of momentum

Although Johnston has done well in the past at the club, currently, Grant is the player in form in that position, and he would feel very hard done by to lose out after the way he has began the campaign.

Although he has not quite got the goals or assists that he probably might have wanted, he has been a threat coming in off the left, and has been very active in the opposition box, where he has registered 27 touches.

With Josh Maja still firing up front, and the defence looking strong, there is a lot to like about West Brom currently, and changing anything about the system could have a negative impact on the result.

Plymouth are not turning up to make up the numbers, and they proved that with their win over Sunderland last weekend, and the Baggies will have to be at their best to ensure that they take all three points at The Hawthorns, whether they choose Grant or Johnston.