Josh Maja has added to the Baggies’ offensive injury list.
For West Bromwich Albion, the start to the season has been rather unpleasant.
Following the hiring of Carlos Corberan as the club’s head coach in October 2022, there were early indications that the Spaniard, with a full season in charge this time, may have the Baggies vying for a return to the Premier League.
Off the pitch, however, doubts about the club’s finances due to chairman Guoachan Lai’s debt commitments to the club will not have been alleviated by a summer transfer window that saw only three new senior players come at The Hawthorns.
On the pitch, Corberan’s side has had a mixed start to the season, with two wins, two draws, and two loses from their first six Championship games, leaving them in mid-table in the early rankings.
On Tuesday, the Baggies were dealt another blow when it was revealed that one of their summer signings, centre-forward Josh Maja, will be out for up to eight weeks due to an ankle ligament injury sustained in the final minutes of his side’s goalless draw with Bristol City on Saturday afternoon.
Losing any player for such a long length of time would be a setback, but considering Maja’s significance in this squad, you get the sense that this is a particularly big one for West Brom.
What does the injury to Josh Maja imply for West Brom?
Maja is not the only centre-forward suffering for fitness at The Hawthorns right now, as fans are well aware.
Daryl Dike has also been plagued by injuries since joining the club from Orlando City in January 2022.
Indeed, the American is presently anticipated to remain sidelined until at least December as he recovers from an Achilles injury sustained in April.
As a result, with Maja also expected to be sidelined for many weeks, Brandon Thomas-Asante is the club’s sole fit, senior, acknowledged alternative in the centre-forward position.
While there is no denying that Thomas-Asante has proven to be a capable option to fill that role in the Championship since joining from Salford City last summer, Albion are on a tightrope in terms of his fitness because any injury to him will leave them severely lacking in firepower to lead the line.
As a result, you have to question if those in command at The Hawthorns are now regretting their choice over one of the club’s other attacking alternatives during the summer transfer window.
Should West Bromwich Albion have retained Karlan Grant this summer?
While West Brom did not do much recruiting this summer, it does not imply there were no exits sanctioned by the club.
Karlan Grant, one of those who did leave The Hawthorns, may perhaps have been a helpful alternative for the Baggies today, given the injury issues surrounding Dike and Maja.
West Brom stated in July that Grant will join Championship rivals Cardiff City on a season-long loan.
Sanctioning that choice decreased the club’s center-forward options, but if Grant had been retained, Corberan would now have some valuable extra depth and an alternative to Thomas-Asante to rely on over the next several months.
Indeed, the 26-year-old has become a frequent fixture in the Welsh capital since his arrival, implying that he could have handled such expectations as well.
It is also worth mentioning that, despite not always being the most popular among Baggies supporters, Grant has scored 21 goals and supplied six assists in 75 Championship outings for the club.
That kind of return suggests that, had he been retained, the striker might have made some significant contributions to Corberan’s side in the absence of Maja and Dike in the coming months, while also relieving some of the load on Thomas-Asante in that role leading the line.
Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing, as the saying goes, but in this case, it appears that the decision-makers at West Brom may be concerned that allowing Grant to leave for Cardiff this summer will come back to bite them in the coming weeks.
