West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace has criticised Tottenham for their tactics when trying to sign Saido Berahino, reports the Daily Express.
The Baggies chief believes that the North London side were trying to unsettle the 22-year-old and make the Midlands club sell him on the cheap. They have failed in this regard, with repeated bids unable to prise the striker away on transfer deadline day [BBC].
“We have a key player who has been very unsettled by antics which were designed to get him out of our club cheaply,” said Peace, “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. 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.”
However, manager Tony Pulis does now have a problem, as the forward appeared to claim that he won’t play for the team after having his moved blocked. The youngster would seem to blame chairman Peace for a deal not being struck between Spurs and the Hawthorns outfit.
Sad how i cant say exactly how the club has treated me but i can officially say i will never play Jeremy Peace.
— Saido Berahino (@SBerahino) September 1, 2015
If the player does refuse to appear for West Brom, then it will be a major blow for Pulis.
The striker scored 20 goals in 45 appearances last season, and even with the arrivals of Salomon Rondon and Rickie Lambert is likely seen as a key part of their first-team squad.
The inability to sign Berahino wrapped up a disappointing window for Tottenham. They also failed in their attempts to sign Southampton star Victor Wanyama [Sky Sports], meaning that manager Mauricio Pochettino has been left with few options both in midfield and up front.
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The Argentine coach has been forced to play Eric Dier, who is naturally a defender, in the middle of the park during the beginning of the campaign. Meanwhile, there is very little in the way of back up for Harry Kane as the main striker, even with the addition of forwards Clinton N’Jie and Son Heung-min.