Saido Berahino (born 4 August 1993) is a Burundian former professional footballer. He is currently part of the coaching team for the Burundi national team.
Having fled his native Burundi as a child, he received political asylum in Birmingham and credits football with helping him integrate into English society. Berahino joined West Bromwich Albion at the age of 11 and turned professional seven years later. He spent time out on loan at Football League clubs Northampton Town, Brentford and Peterborough United.
Berahino made his first starts for West Bromwich Albion in the 2013–14 season, with highlights of that campaign including a hat-trick against Newport County and the winning goal at Old Trafford against Manchester United. In his second full season, he recorded 20 goals in 45 matches across all competitions. Following that campaign, Berahino became involved in a lengthy transfer saga involving Tottenham Hotspur, straining his relationships with manager Tony Pulis and chairman Jeremy Peace. He was criticised for his conduct and fell out of favour, scoring only seven goals in the 2015–16 season; he did not score a competitive goal from 27 February 2016 to 28 August 2018, a goal drought of 913 days.
In January 2017, Berahino joined Stoke City for a fee of £12 million, potentially rising to £15 million. Stoke were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2017–18 season and after a single season in the EFL Championship, Berahino was released by Stoke with three years left on his contract. He played in the Belgian Pro League with Zulte Waregem and Charleroi before returning to England for one season at Sheffield Wednesday in League One in 2021.
Berahino represented England at all youth levels from under-16 to under-21. He was part of the England under-17 team that won the 2010 European Championship. He was called up for the first time to the senior team in November 2014 but did not play. He switched his international allegiance to Burundi in August 2018 and scored on his international debut in September. He captained the team at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Early life Born in 1993 in Bujumbura, the then-capital of Burundi, Berahino played football as a child with a ball of plastic bags tied up with laces. His father died in 1997 during the Burundian Civil War. He travelled to England alone at the age of 10, fleeing the ongoing war to join his mother, brother and sisters who had already been granted asylum in Newtown, Birmingham. He could not locate his family on arrival and was put in a care home. After his mother Liliane was traced, immigration officials had to administer a DNA test to confirm their relationship.
Berahino attended Aston Manor School, where he gained ten GCSE certificates and competed in basketball and athletics in addition to football. His childhood friends included Ateeq Javid and Recordo Gordon, both of whom went on to play County Championship cricket for Warwickshire. Initially speaking only French and having played street football in his native Burundi, Berahino attributed his love for the sport with helping him integrate quickly into English society.
Club career
West Bromwich Albion Berahino signed for the West Bromwich Albion Centre of Excellence in 2004 at under-12 level, joining from inner-city youth club Phoenix United. He progressed through the youth system of the Baggies and in summer 2011, he signed a professional contract with them.
Loans
On 20 October 2011, Berahino joined League Two club Northampton Town on a one-month loan deal. He made his professional debut for the Cobblers two days later in 2–1 defeat to Bradford City at Valley Parade, playing the full 90 minutes. Three days after that, he scored his first senior goal against Hereford United, albeit in a 3–1 home loss at Sixfields. His loan was extended twice, on 3 November and on 5 January 2012. Two days after his first extension, Berahino scored twice away to Gillingham, a goal in each half of a 4–3 loss. He ended his spell with 6 league goals in 14 appearances for Northampton, although they were struggling in League Two.
On 9 February 2012, Berahino went out on loan again, this time at a higher level than before, by joining League One club Brentford through to the end of the season. He made his debut five days later, replacing Marcus Bean at the end of a 2–1 loss at Colchester United. In the next match, at Griffin Park on the 20th, he came on for Gary Alexander in the 28th minute and scored in each half of a 4–0 win against Carlisle United. He also scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Exeter City on 6 March, after which the club's caretaker manager Alan Kernaghan praised him by saying: "Saido got the nod and he did well, but this was win [sic] built on a strong defensive performance as shown by another clean sheet." Due to arguments with new manager Uwe Rösler, the loan spell with Brentford ended early and he returned to West Bromwich Albion on 3 April, having scored 4 goals in 8 appearances.
Berahino made his debut for West Brom as a substitute against Yeovil Town in a League Cup second round tie on 28 August 2012, replacing Shane Long for the final six minutes of a 4–2 away win. He signed on loan for Championship club Peterborough United on 1 October, in a deal until 2 January 2013. The following day, he made his debut in a 2–0 win at Barnsley, replacing Emile Sinclair after 65 minutes. On 27 October, Berahino scored twice in a 3–0 win over Derby County. At Peterborough United, manager Darren Ferguson said that Berahino would play more regularly. He played ten matches on his loan spell, which was cut short by a knee injury.
2013–14 season At the start of the 2013–14 season, manager Steve Clarke suggested that Berahino should become West Bromwich Albion's main centre forward, instead of the club signing a new one. Of their strikers from the previous season, Romelu Lukaku had been on a season-long loan and Peter Odemwingie had fallen out of favour at the club.
On 27 August 2013, he made his first start for West Brom in a League Cup tie against Newport County and scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 home win. He made his first league appearance for the Baggies when he came on as a substitute in a 2–0 home defeat against Swansea City on 1 September 2013, replacing Scott Sinclair for the last 15 minutes of the match. On 28 September, he replaced the injured Sinclair in the first half and scored his first Premier League goal, the winner in a 2–1 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Berahino extended his contract with West Bromwich Albion on 2 December, committing him to the club until June 2017.
2014–15 season
Berahino scored both of West Brom's goals in their first match of the 2014–15 Premier League season, a draw against Sunderland on 16 August 2014. He scored twice more for the Baggies on 28 September, netting in either side of the half-time whistle as West Brom defeated Burnley 4–0. He equalled his league tally from the previous season with a penalty in a 2–1 loss to Liverpool on 4 October, having won the penalty after being fouled by Dejan Lovren. His good start to the season prompted the club to consider a new contract worth over £50,000 per week, but discussion of it was put on hold in late November due to his arrest on suspicion of drink driving.
On 3 January 2015, in the FA Cup third round, Berahino scored four goals in a 7–0 win against Gateshead. He did not celebrate any of these goals, which brought questions to new manager Tony Pulis who explained "you should go and see him in the dressing room, he's more happy in there". Berahino later stated "I was just handling business and acting professionally and that's it". In February, West Bromwich Albion abandoned their contract talks with Berahino and said they would consider offers above £20 million to sell him at the end of the season. The club had been put off by his conduct, as well as an unauthorised interview with Sky Sports in which he declared that he was playing in order to get a transfer to a "bigger" club.
On 11 February, Berahino scored his 10th goal of the Premier League season and fifteenth overall, concluding a 2–0 home win over Swansea City. Three days later, he scored the team's final goal in a 4–0 defeat of West Ham United to put the Baggies into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2008. On 18 May, Berahino scored twice in a 3–0 win over recently crowned league champions Chelsea. He finished the season with the club's Player's Player of the Year Award.
2015–16 season
In August 2015, West Bromwich Albion rejected a bid estimated at £15 million for Berahino to sign for Tottenham Hotspur, with the club valuing him at £25 million. After the bids, Pulis left Berahino out of his squad for the match against Chelsea on 23 August, replacing him with new record signing Salomón Rondón. When interviewed after the match, Pulis stated that Berahino was left out because previous events in the transfer market had been "disruptive". The following day, the club rejected Berahino's transfer request. After they rejected a fourth bid for the player on transfer deadline day, Berahino stated he was unhappy with the conduct of his club and wrote on Twitter that he would never play for the club again under chairman Jeremy Peace; he was fined for these comments. On 7 September, Pulis told the press that all parties had reconciled and that Berahino was training again as normal.
Berahino returned as a substitute for Albion in a 0–0 draw against Southampton on 12 September, receiving a mixed reception. He started a week later against local rivals Aston Villa, scoring the only goal of the match by deflecting James Morrison's shot into the net. From 31 October until the end of the calendar year, Berahino did not start a single match, with Pulis saying that "He's lucky to be on the bench, never mind starting. He's a smashing kid but lets himself down at times."
In January 2016, Berahino scored in a 2–2 draw against Bristol City in the third round of the FA Cup, but did not appear in the squad for the replay. Pulis attributed this to an infection and re-stated that he wanted to keep the player at West Bromwich Albion by the end of the month's transfer window. He returned for the next round on 30 January, scoring both goals in a 2–2 home draw against former loan team Peterborough. The next day, Newcastle made a £21 million bid for the player. However, Berahino remained at West Bromwich Albion; on 26 February he apologised for having threatened to strike. On 16 April, Berahino had two penalty kicks saved by Heurelho Gomes in a 1–0 home loss to Watford.
2016–17 season Stoke City tabled an offer of £17 million, potentially rising to £20 million, for Berahino in July 2016. West Bromwich Albion rejected that bid and an equal one from Crystal Palace. On 23 August, he missed from the penalty spot as West Bromwich Albion lost on a shootout away to his former team Northampton, in the first round of the EFL Cup.
In November, Berahino was assigned extra work in training and sent to a camp in France after he was found to be 8 pounds overweight by West Brom's medical staff. He said in an open statement on the team's website that constant speculation had made it the "most difficult year" of his career, causing him to "feel depressed" and affect his fitness.
Stoke City Berahino joined Stoke on 20 January 2017 for a fee of £12 million, potentially rising to £15 million, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract. Pulis wished him well but said that he needed "to get his act together". Speaking after joining Stoke, Berahino admitted he had 'lost his way' at West Brom. He made his debut for Stoke on 1 February 2017 in a 1–1 draw against Everton.