Tottenham Might Lose Saido Berahino to Chelsea, Should Spurs Be Worried?
Tottenham Hotspur can still be interested in Saido Berahino but not be worried if he signs for Chelsea or any other club in January or next summer, if he remains with West Bromwich Albion.
The Telegraph is reporting that Chelsea could sign Saido Berahino in January. Should Spurs be worried if that were to happen? The short answer is no. In fact, the answer should always be no. Tottenham shouldn’t be worried that Chelsea could sign Saido Berahino for £20 million in January once the winter transfer window opens.
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Why? Because it hinges on Chelsea’s owner Roman Abramovich in the end. Will he keep José Mourinho around to finish this season? Will he also let Mourinho clean house, so to speak, in preparation for what may be a remarkable ascent up the Premier League table in only five months? Or the greatest collapse in Premier League history as the defending champions get relegated while doing well in the Champions League?
Anyways, on a serious note. If Saido Berahino were to accept a transfer to Chelsea and leave West Bromwich Albion to play for the Blues, the 22-year-old would have to impress in five months. Radamel Falcao has been a disappointment, meaning the England striker has to start his Chelsea career off with a bang if he signs in January. It doesn’t help that the Blues have been a complete mess this season, bringing even more pressure for Saido Berahino to do good instantly.
With regards to Tottenham, the elephant in the room is the obvious back-and-forth money slapping that Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy and West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace did during the summer. “Money slapping” is an awful and not so eloquent way of saying Tottenham sent in four bids to West Brom only to get all of them rejected — slapped away — because Saido Berahino wasn’t for sale.
But what would happen if Saido Berahino was going to join Tottenham after Son Heung-min and Clinton N’Jie had already signed for Spurs? What would Mauricio Pochettino’s starting lineup look like right now in the month of November?
Harry Kane
Christian Eriksen — Son Heung-min — Érik Lamela
Eric Dier — Dele Alli
Danny Rose — Toby Alderweireld — Jan Vertonghen — Kyle Walker
Hugo Lloris
Not much change at all even if we pretend that there are no injuries on the team. The above 4-2-3-1 formation would be the strongest lineup that Pochettino could put out. Saido Berahino would be on the bench. The Burundi-born English striker could potentially start over Érik Lamela at right midfield, but Pochettino made it a point to get the Argentine winger more involved this season and to have a breakout year.
Sure, Mousa Dembélé could be a starter as well, but the Belgian midfielder ended last season as a very productive backup/spot starter. Dembélé would be a great addition on the bench as depth. Nacer Chadli? Same thing. Another productive player last term but would have to cede his position to Christian Eriksen.
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Signing Saido Berahino in August, which is when all four bids started happening, wouldn’t have helped him. Without pre-season, Berahino isn’t a starter.
As a matter of fact, he would be better suited as Harry Kane’s backup instead (more on this later). But wait, Son Heung-min is a starter in your projected starting eleven without pre-season as well as Érik Lamela you say?
It’s true that both Son and Lamela didn’t have the benefit of pre-season. But the South Korean international can play in the number 10 role and as a winger. Giving Pochettino flexibility with his squad. Lamela? He had to start to see if he could cut it in the Premier League otherwise he might have been sold or loaned in January if he didn’t produce, like he has done this year.
And as stated above, Nacer Chadli will be better coming off of the bench. This leaves an open spot in the starting eleven for either Christian Eriksen or Son Heung-min to fill in, while the other player plays as the team’s attacking midfielder.
Back to Saido Berahino. One key factor for signing Berahino was to have him be Harry Kane’s backup. Or at the very least play alongside him up top in a two striker formation — which won’t happen because Pochettino rarely plays anything besides the 4-2-3-1. Therefore Saido Berahino would have started the year off on the bench. In due time, if injuries were to happen to Eriksen, Lamela and Son then Berahino would start. Otherwise his contributions would be in the Europa League and cup competitions.
Next: It's Hard to Break Into Tottenham's Starting XI this Season
Therefore, it’s time to look for a different utility striker than Saido Berahino. Someone who can play in a different position besides striker but doesn’t mind being a backup. Who that player is is hard to figure out because there are other positions that Tottenham must address along with striker in the winter transfer window.