Tottenham’s bid to sign cover for Harry Kane last season certainly met a lot of resistance from West Bromwich Albion. Spurs and Mauricio Pochettino seemed set to sign their young striker Saido Berahino and the player wanted to move to London as well but West Brom were holding out for a lot more and it all ended horribly for the striker.
He was left out of the squad and even vented his anger at the chairman of the club and that almost meant the end of his career and also his hopes of playing for Tottenham in the 2015/16 season. Come a new season, it seems that Spurs are set to renew their interest in the striker but the club would do well if they avoid bringing him to London.
A problem which Pochettino does not need
Many a time you do hear talk about managers having a problem with having too many quality strikers in a club and the Argentine manager of Tottenham would also have a problem if Berahino does make it to the London club.
Firstly, Tottenham would have to pay around £20 million to get the 22-year-old to the team. The other issue which could be a huge problem for the London side would be the lack of improvement in Berahino’s performances last season.
The English star scored 20 times in the 2014/15 season for West Brom and that might have gone to his head as he tried his level best to conjure a move away from the team but it just did not happen. Post that he only scored seven goals in 32 appearances in the last season and his record of scoring in almost every other game came crashing down to one in almost every four games.
Not only that, his confidence seems to have hit rock bottom and that showed last season as well when he did turn up for Tony Pulis. Berahino might still be seeing the $ signs in front of his eyes and Tottenham should in fact use their vast scouting network to bring in someone who could play second fiddle to Harry Kane and not be a disruptive element in the side.
The news coming out from Spurs suggests that the deal is more or less complete and the 22-year-old is all set to star for Pochettino next season but he does seem to have buried the hatchet regarding his anger with his club, West Brom.
In an interview with Wets Brom’s official website Berahino did state,
“I have always got on with the chairman.
“My tweet was something that I look back on and I really regret. I should never have said that. I am human. We all makes mistakes and I hold my hand up and say it was a mistake from me. I just apologise to all the fans out there that have always supported me and the club that has always believed in me.”
Even with the apology, a lot of question marks remain on the player and the money being spent certainly can bring Tottenham a better player than someone who seems to hit the self-destruct mode any time he does not get things his way.
Saido could play well with Kane! Hope Spurs can sign him. Seem also MB wants him.
Saido is a young man and he has talent.
I think its a bit harsh to call Berahino a troublemaker. Berahino is a class obove everyone else at West Brom and has always looked like a real player. The way West Broms chairman acted last year, cancelling his dream move (and it was a dream move for the kid to play with all his England team mates of the same level for a manager that does well with developing players), for that deal to fall through on deadline day after Spurs had offered a very good price to West Brom (a club record in fact), that must’ve been brutal for the kid, and definitely unsettled him for most of the season.
Berahino does look a bit special and offers a tactical alternative to Kane. I honestly wouldn’t mind f he was the one we went for this summer.
You seem to have a real issue with Berahino mate and it makes me wonder why you would write such an article which in reality seems a bit vindictive. Of course Berahino went a bit haywire…he thought he was going to a club of his choice and a dream move for him. He didn’t expect it all to go so badly wrong for him. The real issue was between the two chairmen and their inflated ego’s, mainly Daniel Levy’s. West Brom stated they wanted 25 million pounds for him and of course Levy, a law unto himself, went in with a ridiculous bid of 15 million pounds and that’s what started it all.
Levy is know for this, it’s nothing personal, he is just an idiot with no common sense. It’s hardly Berahino’s fault but you can imagine, well I guess you can’t, how he feels which made him react the way he did.
To me you are hard up for a real story so you thought you would drag this up again but it’s a pretty much waste of time. I personally hope that Spurs do sign this player as he seems a perfect choice especially as him and Kane used to play for the under 21’s together and know each other pretty well.
Levi is supposed to be this big hard nosed deal maker, but he’s really just a great big tight fisted waster.
Levi only had 2 big decisions. Get the Olympic stadium and get Berahino. And he failed on both fronts.
How on earth did he fail to beat West Ham’s 2 pints and a pocket of crisps per year offer for the Olympic stadium? That miscalculation is going to cost Spurs 100s of millions.
Spurs fans can argue all you want about the rights and wrongs of Berahino, but you lost the title by a fraction, and Berahino, before Levi messed with his head, may well have been the difference.
It’s easy to forget that 12 months ago he was last seasons Rushford. Without him in the under 21s England went from world beaters to less than useless.
While many West Brom fans are also now quick to criticise Berahino (the life as a forward in a Pulis team is thankless), his few early season goals got us up the table early on, and away from Villa. He might be worth much less than he was 12 months ago, but most of the goals he scored either won us or drew us games and you cannot put a price on that!
I hope he stays. I know it’s not the view of most Baggies, but I’d be more than happy for him to run is contract down, so long as he contributes. I think having other youngsters now coming through the ranks will also be good for him. But really who would want to be a forward in a Pulis team, it’s career suicide.
I have trust in Pochettino and the scouting team. I really don’t see an attitude problem with Berahino. Also from what I heard Tottenham will not be paying anywhere near 20 million. More like 10-12 million. The issue is which striker would you take. Pochettino has eyes for Morata first, if not then who to pick. Rumour has it we have already agreed to terms with Shane Long. So we shall see