Football

Twitter Reacts As Ex-Premier League Star Saido Berahino Completes Shock Move To Indian Second-Tier

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Cai Parry
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Cai Parry Sports Editor

Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb PΓͺl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.

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Published23 Aug 2024

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Saido Berahino

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.

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).

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.