Love it, let's hope he does, he looked very good on Wednesday.

Sounds like Bulut impressed him too, lets's hope he can get us a few more.




The Karlan Grant interview: I had a difficult year at West Brom but I'm at Cardiff City to show everyone I'm back.

WalesOnline sat down with new Cardiff signing Karlan Grant at the club's Portuguese training base in the Algarve.

Karlan Grant probably signed for Cardiff City on the worst day possible - the same day prodigal son Aaron Ramsey returned home.

There are few signings which would overshadow a potential 20-goal Championship forward joining the club, but we will allow the Ramsey hype. It's also right, though, that Grant gets his fair share of attention and fanfare.

The 250-plus Cardiff fans in attendance at Lagos' Estadio Municipal got a 45-minute reminder of just why they should be so excited by his capture on loan from West Brom.

Grant, 25, was lightning quick and had the Braga right-back in all sorts of bother on Wednesday night. This could turn out to be the player Cardiff have been missing since Nathaniel Mendez-Laing left the club.

Everything points to it being a positive acquisition for Cardiff and they can thank Erol Bulut for that. When asked by WalesOnline why he chose the Bluebirds, amid interest from a number of other clubs, he said: "The way the manager sold it to me and the direction they want to go in. I saw they made a few signings and are still actively trying to make a few more signings. The way they wanted to play, I just felt like straight away we hit the ground running. That was important.

"I felt like he really wanted me here. That was very important. The role he wanted me to play. Those things as one were important after a difficult year last year.

"But the Cardiff that I know have always been trying to challenge and hopefully we can bring that.

It's credit to the manager, because he has taken his time to do his research on me and that's why it was important for me to come here. So far, he seems like a great guy. Hopefully we can create great memories together."

He can play a number of positions, of course, wide on the left, on the right or even as a striker, but Bulut sees him as a forward option. It could see him link up with his old mate Callum Robinson, or 'Agent Robbo' as some are alluding to him due to his part on getting him to the Welsh capital.

"I don't think I'm restricted, but I think off the left he likes me," he added. "I can make that run between the full-back and centre-half with my pace, pick it up in the pockets with whoever is in the 10, whether it be Robbo (Callum Robinson) or Rambo (Aaron Ramsey). Just that freedom to go out there and express myself.

"I spoke with Robbo before coming and that's important. You want to know one side from the manager and hear the players' point of view as well.

"Robbo was really positive with how this pre-season was going and the direction they were trying to go in. I'm not one to look at last year, I know this club and I know how it pushes at the top half of the table.

"I've not come here to relax, I've come here to compete, not just to relax. I really want to push on with the team."

The reaction to him signing was unanimously positive from Cardiff City fans. His numbers speak for themselves, after all.

But it stoked a particularly visceral reaction from West Brom supporters that couldn't be ignored. Grant, though, bears no ill will to fans of his parent club. He believes he could maybe have done more to garner that connection with them.

After all, in the first season they dropped down to the Championship, Grant bagged 18 goals for the Baggies. It was a meagre year for him in comparison last year, admittedly, but he's at Cardiff now and wants to show everyone he means business.

"I signed late to West Brom in Covid and played a year with no fans. So I don't think I built that connection, which was difficult," he said of his relationship with West Brom supporters.

"I managed to get quite a lot of goals in my first year in the Championship with them. Maybe I just didn't build that connection and maybe I should have tried a bit harder. But I found it difficult, the whole year playing without them. Lads before that would have played with them, so would have had a connection. There are no bad feelings from me towards the situation.

"I'm just focused on Cardiff and am excited. I've had a nice welcoming and hope I can reward them with my performances on the pitch."

One suspects that reaction from West Brom supporters pertains to Grant's price tag after he was signed on a six-year deal for £15million.

He has been with the Midlands club for three years now and has had two relatively paltry seasons regarding his goal return, one of which was in the Premier League, but you can't help but think that fans might not have reacted so emotionally when news of his loan move to Cardiff filtered through if his price tag was not so high.

"As a player, I don't feel the pressure of it," he said of the £15million tag. "I'm there just to try and perform as best as possible, but obviously fans will go back to it if you're not performing the way they want you to perform.

"That comes with it. The price tag was high, but I don't decide the price that someone pays for me.

"But I'm just grateful to be here. I'm in a good place, the best physical condition I've ever been in and I'm really roaring to go. I want to show everyone that I'm back this year.

"I feel like I am in the best physical shape, mentally I'm in the right place and I feel like I'm going to have a good year, definitely."

Grant anticipates that it will take time to gel with the new forward additions, himself, Ramsey, Yakou Meite and Ike Ugbo are all new to the club.

But for him, the most important thing is finding consistency within his own game. Bulut is a big one for upping the goal tally, which is sorely needed after such a goal-shy campaign, and Grant looks set to play a big part if City are to up their numbers, and subsequent league position, this term.

Make no mistake, the forward means business this year.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...-year-27361431