Saido Berahino’s West Brom future in doubt as transfer fails to materialize
Saido Berahino's West Brom future remains in limbo after his apparent strike threat, despite the club rejecting two deadline day bids from Tottenham. The striker has hinted on his official Twitter account he is prepared to down tools after the Baggies rebuffed two late offers from Spurs. His message read: […]
Saido Berahino's West Brom future remains in limbo after his apparent strike threat, despite the club rejecting two deadline day bids from Tottenham.
The striker has hinted on his official Twitter account he is prepared to down tools after the Baggies rebuffed two late offers from Spurs.
His message read: “Sad how i cant say exactly how the club has treated me but i can officially say i will never play Jeremy Peace.”
Baggies chairman Peace rejected four bids in total from Spurs for the England Under-21 forward and turned down the 22-year-old's transfer request last month.
He held talks with Berahino last week and reiterated he would not leave, and then issued a statement following the end of the transfer window on Tuesday insisting the Baggies needed to move on.
“We have a key player who has been very unsettled by antics which were designed to get him out of our club cheaply,” he said.
“Those tactics have continued despite my making our position clear in my first conversation with (Tottenham chairman) Daniel Levy on this subject in mid-August.
SEE MORE: West Brom reject written transfer request from Saido Berahino.
“I said selling Saido so late in the window was not on our agenda.
“Tottenham's offers failed substantially to reflect Saido's true value while the timing made no allowance for our own recruitment of a suitable replacement for a proven Premier League goalscorer.
“Saido has been unsettled to the point where our head coach has not felt able to select him for our last three games.
“We are now left with the task of repairing the damage created by this unfortunate episode.”
It is understood Tottenham's Tuesday bids were only marginally better than the north London club's second offer, made last month, which would have only risen to £21million with clauses and add-ons.
The Baggies are understood to be unhappy with Spurs' approach to the deal, which only strengthened their resolve to keep Berahino.
SEE MORE: West Brom’s 2015/16 season preview.
The frontman has been left out of West Brom's last three squads during the speculation, with boss Tony Pulis insisting he was not in the right state of mind to play.
Spurs were searching for more firepower to help Harry Kane and, despite signing Son Heung-min from Bayer Leverkusen, maintained their interest in Berahino.
He scored 20 goals last season and earned a call-up to the England senior squad, but missed this summer's European Under-21 Championship with a knee injury.
Meanwhile, the Baggies confirmed they have committed £36million to transfers this summer after bringing in James McClean, James Chester, Rickie Lambert, Salomon Rondon, Jonny Evans and Anders Lindegaard, along with the season-long loan deal for Serge Gnabry.
