Football
Twitter Reacts As Ex-Premier League Star Saido Berahino Completes Shock Move To Indian Second-Tier
Former West Brom and Stoke City striker Saido Berahino, who came close to joining Tottenham in 2015, has completed a shock move to Indian second-tier side Rajasthan United.
Saido Berahino, once tipped to become a top Premier League striker and a former England Under-21 Player of the Year winner, has joined Indian I-League side Rajasthan United in what is likely the most random move of the summer.
ππ§π€π’ π©ππ ππ§ππ’πππ§ πππππͺπ π©π€ π€πͺπ§ π©πππ’ π
πππ ππͺπ©πͺπ§π π‘π€π€π π¨ ππ§ππππ© π¬ππ©π πππππ€ π½ππ§ππππ£π€ ππ£ π€πͺπ§ π‘ππ£ππͺπ₯ π#Berahino #Ileague #Indianfootball #AbkhelegaRajasthan #Rajasthanunited pic.twitter.com/OYMmF5aQu3— Rajasthan United FC (@RajasthanUnited) August 23, 2024
The Burundi national team captain has spent the last two seasons playing for Cypriot side AEL Limassol and played for Sheffield Wednesday in League One and Charleroi and Zulte Waregem in the Belgian Pro League prior to that.
Berahino is mainly remembered for his time at West Bromwich Albion, where he came through as an academy player. The 31-year-old made his first team bow during the 2012/13 season and became a regular Premier League starter at the Hawthorns in 2013/14.
It would be during the 2014/15 season where the then 21-year-old would really begin to make his mark, as he netted 20 goals in 45 appearances for the Baggies, prompting plenty of transfer interest and even a senior England international call-up, however he never went on to feature for the Three Lions.
North London was tipped to be his next destination, with Tottenham Hotspur offering upwards of Β£22 million for the forward in the summer of 2015, but West Brom rejected Spurs’ deadline-day bid despite Berahino’s eagerness to leave.
This led to a major transfer saga, with Berahino vowing to never play for West Brom again before he fell out of favour and eventually joined Stoke City for Β£12 million in 2017. Scoring just three goals in 51 appearances, the Potters released the striker just two years into his five-year contract.
Twitter Reacts To Saido Berahino’s Shock India Move
Players often experiment with different football leagues around the globe, so seeing Berahino move to India isn’t exactly a huge surprise, but what is a surprise is that his move is to a second-tier side rather than an Indian Super League side.
Some fans were quick to point this out, sharing their shock and poking fun at the move on X (formerly Twitter).
2nd Tier India is crazy https://t.co/h6N4HJZxJ3
— #FreeCongo π¨π© (@osowxvyy) August 23, 2024
Their last three results π pic.twitter.com/eAxGxJEn45
— George (@georgemak1n) August 23, 2024
A few Tottenham fans commented on the move too, as they remembered that they would’ve likely never signed Heung-min Son had their move for Berahino not fallen through.
In 2015 we almost brought a guy that now plays in the second tier of Indian football instead of Heung Min Son. https://t.co/So2KUXt9Pp
— Jacoβ’ (@JacoCats) August 23, 2024
Sliding Doors moment, we bought Sonny because we failed to sign Berahino https://t.co/UC0c0WmCYz
— Michael Hamilton COYS π―π² (@NLAHamilton) August 23, 2024