West Brom chairman hoping to 'repair damage' over Saido Berahino

Nick Mashiter 09:08 02/09/2015
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  • Bitter Berahino: Baggies striker has hit out at his club over dealings with Spurs.

    West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace has insisted the Baggies must start repairing the damage left by the Saido Berahino saga.

    The Albion owner rejected two deadline day bids from Tottenham for the striker who has appeared to have indicated he will never play for the club again. In a message on his official Twitter account, the striker seemed to hint he was prepared to go on strike at the Hawthorns.

    It read: “Sad how I cant say exactly how the club has treated me but I can officially say I will never play Jeremy Peace.”

    The Baggies rejected a total of four bids from Tottenham while they also turned down Berahino’s transfer request last month, and while the club are yet to address his apparent outburst directly, Peace admitted they must 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 in a club statement.

    “Those tactics have continued despite my making our position clear in my first conversation with Daniel Levy on this subject in mid-August. 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 bids yesterday were marginally better than the north London club’s second offer, made last month, which would have only risen to £21 million (Dh118m) with clauses and add-ons.

    The Baggies remained determined to keep the 22-year-old at the Hawthorns after Peace held talks with the player last week and reiterated he would not be sold.

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    Albion are understood to be unhappy with Spurs’ approach to the deal, which has only strengthened their resolve to keep Berahino.

    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 had been searching for more firepower to help Harry Kane and, despite signing Son Heung-min from Bayer Leverkusen, maintained their interest in Berahino. 

    Though the Berahino switch never materilised it was a productive day for West Ham who brought in a quartet of new faces – with a fifth arrival still a possibility.

    The long-anticipated return of Alex Song on a second successive season-long loan from Barcelona was the first completed deal of the day and he was soon joined by a trio of attacking talents.

    Victor Moses also moved on a season-long loan deal having penned a new four-year contract with Chelsea beforehand, with Nikica Jelavic and Michail Antonio signing from Championship outfits Hull and Nottingham Forest while Tottenham’s Emmanuel Adebayor is still a target.

    The Togo international cannot join on loan due to Premier League rules meaning no other domestic loans can be completed with 
    Moses and Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson already on board.

    There is still scope for Adebayor to move to West Ham but it is understood he is demanding £5m (Dh28m) from Spurs to terminate his contract a year early and the club are not willing to pay such an amount.

    Elsewhere, Southampton completed the signing of defender Virgil van Dijk from Celtic. The 24-year-old Dutchman has signed a five-year contract for a fee in the region of £11m (Dh61.8m) after two successful years in Scotland.

    Everton signed Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon on a three-year contract, as the 28-year-old returns to Goodison Park on a permanent deal after spending the second half of last season on loan.

    Despite Lennon’s arrival, Everton’s transfer business has left fans distinctly frustrated.

    The arrival earlier in the day of River Plate defender Ramiro Funes Mori filled one of the slots Martinez was targeting, although the fee of £9.5m (Dh53m) was £4m (Dh22m) more than was touted last week when the 24-year-old Argentinian came travelled to finalise the move.
    However, the Everton manager’s search for a player who could operate in the No10 role proved fruitless and appears to have left the squad a little light.

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