Saido Berahino burst onto the scene in the 2013/14 season, with the young West Brom striker announcing his arrival with a memorable winner at Old Trafford.
An England call-up soon followed, as did a 20-goal season for the Baggies in 2014/15, which put him on the radar of Tottenham Hotspur.
A lengthy transfer saga ensued, impacting his relationships with manager Tony Pulis and chairman Jeremy Pearce, while on the pitch the goals began to dry up as he fell out of favour.
Berahino on his failed Spurs move
“I accepted it professionally, but I went to see the chairman, Jeremy Peace, with my mum,” Berahino tells FourFourTwo when asked about his failed move to the north London side.
“He looked at her and said, ‘Saido isn’t going anywhere,’ which made her cry. That destroyed me, so I posted the famous tweet saying I’d never play for him again. I regret that tweet. Peace could have just explained why the deal wasn’t right, but he was cold-hearted. Now I always tell young footballers to enjoy their careers and avoid getting involved in the nonsense – when that happens, it becomes a job.”
Berahino eventually left the Hawthorns to join Stoke City for a £12million fee in 2017, but failed to score a Premier League goal for the Potters.
“A lot went wrong, “ he admits. “I was banned for eight weeks for taking MDMA [while still at West Brom], but my drink had been spiked, so that was hard to take. The dressing room at Stoke was divided between the foreign and English lads, to the point there were two separate WhatsApp groups. Because I speak French, I was in the middle. On the pitch we just couldn’t win games. There was no togetherness – nobody even socialised after training.”
There was also a story that did the rounds of Berahino turning up for a match at Stoke 24 hours early, something the 32-year-old is quick to debunk.
“We had a player appearance event on a Thursday, which was two days before the match,” the forward explains. “I wore my club tracksuit, but Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Kurt Zouma thought it would be funny to put a video on social media of me wearing it. The press got hold of it and tried to turn it into something it wasn’t.”
Berahino’s next stop was Belgian side Zulte Waregem, with stints at Sheffield Wednesday, AEL Limassol in Cyprus, Rajasthan United in India and Tabor Sezana in the Slovenian second tier all following.
“I’ve become more mature,” Berahino continues when asked how these experiences have changed him. “In England, everything is done for you – your car, your mortgage, everything. But moving abroad, I saw the other side of football. In Belgium, I had team-mates who were still studying at university and living on low incomes. I’ve also learned a lot more about the tactical side.”
The Burundi international turned 32 this summer, but does he see himself playing in England again?
“I did have offers after I left Sheffield Wednesday, but I declined them,” he adds. “I don’t feel the same buzz and butterflies that I used to when playing in England. With Wednesday, I only went because Darren Moore was the manager, and I knew him from my time at West Brom.”
