'I can get back to scoring goals at this level' - Motivation is sky high for Karlan Grant after making Charlton Athletic return
Academy product vowed he would be back when he was sold to Huddersfield Town in January 2019
“I am the player I am today because of this club. I have got a point to prove - 100 per cent. If anything, I’ve got more fire in my belly this time around.”
Karlan Grant is chatting to South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition about his return to the south London team which not only gave him his footballing education but also served as a launchpad for a Premier League move.
Grant is older, but still only 28, and wiser, when it comes to the highs, lows and curveballs that the sport can throw at you.
Charlton announced the arrival of the attacker, another success story from the Sparrows Lab, on Sunday morning.
Grant had been offered a new contract by West Bromwich Albion, his home for the last six seasons, but opted instead to sign a two-year deal with the south Londoners.
Karlan Grant left West Brom this summer/Picture: Alamy
Charlton’s former academy chief Steve Avory remembers Grant, sold to Huddersfield in January 2019, telling him that he would be back one day.
That promise has become a reality.
Grant has a few milestones he can quickly tick off. He needs two more appearances for a century in a Charlton shirt. His first league outing this season will make it 250 matches at Championship level.
“It is natural with age and experience that you mature as a player,” he told South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition. “I was raw and tenacious when I was younger. Now I know my body, when to make certain runs and when you need to see out a game. That comes with playing a lot of football.
“At times, especially at West Brom, I was probably at a standstill. But you don’t forget the basics. I can get back to scoring goals at this level - I have done that a couple of times at this level.
“It is about coming back and doing it again.”
