WBA playing chicken with Berahino


Regular readers of this website will know that it is my view that Saido Berahino has been acting the way he has simply because he wants to move to Tottenham, something The Sun are now reporting.

I speculated during the summer that Jeremy Peace had shot himself in the foot. The Tweet saying he would never play for Peace again clearly showed his anger and being denied the move to Tottenham he felt he had been promised, despite his fee being met. As with all transfers the offer was an initial sum, money over the length of the contract and add-ons, a standard transfer arrangement. I am not surprised in the slightest that Berahino refused an improved contract. He was clearly never going to sign that as it would have kept his fee high and benefitted WBA, not something he now has any desire to do.

He is in a situation where he couldn't care less what WBA do so they can hardly apply any discipline to him. Pochettino must be aware of the situation because if we believe Tottenham are now looking at a player's character, as we say we are, then we will know why Berahino is taking the action he is. Clearly he wants to force a move and force his price down.

WBA have cup-tied him to try and make him of less use to a potential buyer, I say a potential buyer, Berahino hasn't been interested in any other club since the summer. The press can speculate all they like and clubs can make offers, they will all count for nothing because Berahino wants to move to Spurs. WBA no doubt want him to go to another club but Berahino isn't interested leaving them few options.

It is quite laughable that some fans believe his price has now gone up because he has scored one goal in the FA Cup. A player's price goes down when he is cup-tied. If you buy a player you are not allowed to pick he is worth less than a player who you can pick, that is common sense. 

In the summer his price will drop further given he enters the last year of his contract. Pochettino still wants Berahino, he is top of the list. Our coach has been at pains to point out that we will only buy the right player, not just any player because of a perceived need. It suggests to me that we are trying to buy Berahino and if we don't get him we will wait until the summer, which is just a few months away in footballing terms. 

The window closes at the end of January, February for a new player to get Tottenham fit and have cameo appearances to get used to our system, that leaves just March, April and half of May before the end of the season.

He is worth less now than in the summer and will be worth even less next summer. WBA need the money to rebuild the club, Pulis wanted him sold last summer to buy replacements, now he is only going to get half or two-thirds of his summer price, Tottenham doesn't need to make offers any bigger.

WBA's problem in the summer may have been that they wanted Charlie Austin and QPR wanted a lump cum payment. WBA couldn't afford that without a lump sum for Berahino and Tottenham were not going to pay a lump sum for potential instead of substance. Berahino is an ordinary player at the moment, a player with potential, no more than that. His potential element you place in add-on clauses, if he achieves this you get X amount, if this you get Y amount. 

You don't shell out a big fee and keep your fingers crossed he fulfills his potential, that is gambling, not a sound business strategy as many a club dropping through the divisions can testify. Tottenham are where we are because we are run on a sound business footing, there is no reason to change that, especially over a deal where the 'selling' club has few cards to play with.

As far as his mentality goes and talk of him upsetting a dressing room, his current actions are to force a move, not standard behaviour. I have no doubt you would see a totally different player at Spurs. I think he sees this as his opportunity to work at a club who promote youth and where he will get to play. Loic Remy, Demba Ba, just two strikers who show that if you go to a big club with money you sit on the bench. I don't believe Berahino wants that, he wants to play, he has said so before.

He would allow us to rotate so although he wouldn't play every game, he would get plenty throughout the season and perhaps he feels he would have a greater chance of an England call-up.

The transfer negotiations in the summer were all very predictable, indeed I was taking it all down to negotiation level and showing what each move meant and predicting the next move, such as Fazio not joining if ther was no Berahino agreement, he was just a sweetener. Now we have WBA trying to convince everyone these is a lot of interest and feeding the press stories that may be hypothetical or may have a grain of truth. The Berahino camp have countered with he only wants Spurs and won't sign for anyone else. It's all quite amusing to watch.

WBA will no doubt continue to try and drum up interest in an attempt force Berahino elsewhere, he will no doubt hold his ground and demand Tottenham. It seems like another game of chicken. WBA called Berahino's bluff in the summer, will they call it again or will he join? We'll wait and see on this one.


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