West Brom: Karlan Grant reaches out to Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa after England 'dream'
West Bromwich Albion forward Karlan Grant congratulated his former teammate Ezri Konsa after England's World Cup win over Croatia.
The 28-year-old Aston Villa centre-back started and played the full 90 minutes in England's opening group stage match of this summer's World Cup against the Croatians.
Konsa didn't have his best performance in a Three Lions shirt though, but those ahead of him ensured it wouldn't matter, as Thomas Tuchel's side ran out 4-2 winners in Dallas.
Evidently watching on was West Brom attacker Grant, who is yet to confirm whether or not he will sign a new contract at The Hawthorns with his current deal set to expire at the end of this month.
Grant, also 28, scored just four times in 27 Championship appearances for the Baggies last term, but did net in the final day defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
As such, it still remains unclear whether he will be a part of James Morrison's Albion squad of the future.
What did Karlan Grant say to Ezri Konsa?
Earning his 21st senior England cap on Wednesday night, Konsa achieved the dream of every young footballer: to represent their nation at a World Cup.
The Aston Villa star was his typically excellent with the ball at his feet and knocking it around, but will look at his role in both of Croatia's goals and think to himself that he could've done more to prevent them.
Regardless, he and the Three Lions' campaign is off to an impressive start, and he took to his Instagram account to mark the win over Croatia, as well as his milestone moment in his international career.
"The start we wanted & a World Cup debut," Konsa wrote.
"Dream night in Dallas and something to build on," to which Grant left a motivational comment on in the replies.
The out-of-contract West Brom man replied with: "Off to a (rocket emoji, meaning flyer, and blue love heart emoji)."
Why is Grant sending a message to Konsa?
Given that this is a case of a West Brom player sending a congratulatory message to an Aston Villa star, this has the potential to rub some Albion fans up the wrong way.
However, there is some vital historical context that must be understood before jumping on Grant's back for this.
That's because the pair actually played together in Charlton Athletic's academy for a number of years.
Grant ascended into Charlton's first-team ranks in 2014, before Konsa eventually followed suit in 2016 respectively.
So, seeing his former youth teammate starring for England at the World Cup will have been a brilliant moment for Grant, who may have made a big West Brom contract call before the Three Lions' next group stage game.