Saido Berahino burst into the spotlight with a 14 goals effort last season in a supporting striker role for West Brom. The English attacking player was a phenomenon for the Baggies and was singled out for a big money move to a top four club with Arsenal and Tottenham in the reckoning.
The move never materialised and Berahino went into meltdown on twitter claiming he would never play for West Brom again. He got his act together but has failed to regain anywhere close to the form that earned him a reputation as one of England's most promising young forwards last season.
According to Sky Sports, Tony Pulis believes he has never seen someone in this position be so affected by such transfer speculation.
Pulis said, "It is the first time I have had to manage this situation. I have been in management a long time, but it is the first time someone has had that opportunity and has not gone and then he has just faded away as much as Saido has.
He continued, "I am not blaming the kid one bit about that, it is just the way it has been. Obviously, with the press focusing on what he is going to do and what he is not going to do, it is going to point the gun firmly at him again. He has got to make sure that he gets his head in gear and performs well. You can't condemn people."
Berahino might still be itching for a move from West Brom and with every approaching window gets another bout of regret having not moved when his stock was highest but he will need to convince teams that he is worth the gamble in the coming weeks. West Brom will not sell if the offer is not right and Pulis likened the buying of a player to that of a house with the selling party holding most of the power.
"I don't think it is inevitable (he will go). It is up to the chairman and people. If you are buying a house, the buyer has to put the right offer in and the one who is selling has to accept that offer.
"There is always a price for people and always a price people will go to. But that doesn't mean the deal is going to be done."
Berahino has scored just three times this season and holds little or no danger for opposing defences when he does get a chance to perform.
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