West Brom say Tottenham’s offer for Saido Berahino ‘way, way off mark’

Tottenham's transfer window bids for striker Saido Berahino were "way, way off the mark", according to West Bromwich Albion's director of football administration, Richard Garlick.

Talking to the Albion Assembly fans' group, Garlick laid out the timing of Tottenham's offers, and said they were rejected because of their value and their payment structure – with one bid understood to have involved payments of £3.5 million (€4.8m) each year for five years.

The saga ended in acrimony on deadline day when Berahino tweeted his frustration at the club's refusal to sell him, and pledged never to play for chairman Jeremy Peace again.

Berahino has since returned to training, though manager Tony Pulis admitted it would be "hard" to reintegrate him. "His attitude will be questioned," said Pulis. "Respect has to be earned and Saido has to learn that lesson."

Garlick, quoted by the Birmingham Mail , said the club had dismissed four bids during the window, two on deadline day. "Around mid-August the chairman was speaking to Tottenham about [Federico] Fazio – and there was a question asked about Berahino, to which the chairman said we weren't interested in selling him. Three days later there was an official offer from Tottenham which was not acceptable, way off the mark, and was just rejected out of hand.

Transfer request

“At the same time as that offer came in there was a transfer request put in by the player. I suppose you can read into the timing what you want in relation to the bid coming in and the transfer request on the same day. Again that was rejected.

“There was then a further offer a week later which again was way, way off the mark, not only in terms of the amount but also in terms of the payment structure. Then that was it, there was lots of too-ing and fro-ing taking place and then it wasn’t until deadline day that we received a third offer in the morning and then a final offer in the mid-afternoon.

“By which stage neither was the offer or the structure acceptable and we were completely left without being able to get a replacement in for a player. That was it really as far as the club was concerned.”

Garlick added: “In a nutshell, that’s it. Obviously then Saido tweeted what he tweeted and he was given an extended leave of absence just for things to settle down and for everybody to reflect where we are.”

Guardian Service