Woe is (Former?) Spurs Target Saido Berahino

With Spurs quiet on attempting to sign him again this summer, West Brom striker Saido Berahino might wonder what this whole wasted season was about.

The drama that unfolded over the last few weeks of the summer transfer window culminated in a very public spat between Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and Baggies chairman Jeremy Peace. The latter reportedly declined four separate offers for Berahino from Levy, and even issued a public statement condemning the club for failing to respect the price tag he had placed on the clubs’ star striker.

In the end, Spurs did not get there man, and West Brom managed to alienate one of the better weapons at their disposal. Berahino directed his disappointment specifically at Peace in a since-deleted tweet, and it seemed inevitable that he would be leaving the club, perhaps as soon as the January transfer window.

There was more going on here than a simple transfer dispute. The fact was – and is – that a player like Berahino doesn’t fit into the system Baggies coach Tony Pulis advocates. He’s small, crafty and pacey, while Pulis prefers physical target men like Salomón Rondón. Even if he managed to score 14 goals in the season prior – enough to make him the club’s top scorer and tied for six overall in the Premier League – West Brom under Pulis didn’t seem like an environment where he could continue to thrive.

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Pulis gave him a shot all the same in the early months of the season, and it seemed as if Berahino might be able to overcome the lost shot at Spurs. Over four starts from mid-September to mid-October, he scored three goals – two of which were the only goals scored in wins over Aston Villa and Sunderland.

That form quickly dried up. Pulis demoted him to the bench – including for West Brom’s first match against Spurs in December – and speculation began to fly about where the Englishman would end up in January.

Spurs were rumored to still be interested, but only for the right price. Both Stoke and Newcastle also entered the race, but by the end of the month it was clear that Berahino would be stuck at West Brom at least through summer.

Since the beginning of February, Berahino has made eleven starts in both the Premier League and FA Cup with two substituted appearances, scoring only one goal along the way. He looks a shadow of the player who seemed likely to be included in Roy Hodgson’s plans for England, perhaps even for this summer’s Euros in France.

None of that will come to pass now. There have been rumors of late – confirmed by Pulis himself – that the club would love it if he signed a new contract with them. His current one expires at the end of next season.

If the player is determined to go though, West Brom might have to rethink their fee demands. Asking £20 million or more for a striker who scored all of four goals in his most recent campaign is particularly brazen. With only one year left on his contract, the club might be anxious to offload him for a cut-rate price by the end of summer.

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Will Spurs again be among his suitors? Possibly. If the money is right, acquiring someone with a proven (if distant) track record in the Premier League will make him more appealing than, say, the Championship’s Moussa Dembélé or Ligue 1’s Michy Batshuayi.

Whether he comes to Spurs or not, Berahino deserves better chances than the one he’s getting at West Brom.