Twitter has been full of rumours today that West Brom are prepared to offer Saido Berahino in exchange for want-away forward Diafra Sakho.
Here are some of the tweets, with mixed feelings about the potential swap…
Berahino straight swap for Sakho would be a great deal. Surely they’d want like £10 million at least?
— M (@Kooyate) 15 June 2016
WBA may well offer that deal involving Sakho and Berahino but it is unlikely that we would accept. 1st team moral is good he cd unsettle it
— ExWHUemployee (@ExWHUemployee) 15 June 2016
Must be the only one who wouldn’t swap Sakho for Berahino. Can’t stand the lad.
— West Ham Central (@WestHam_Central) 15 June 2016
There are a lot of West Ham fans who aren’t fussed about the deal because of Berahino’s attitude. However, the positives in signing Berahino outweigh the negatives in this deal.
Berahino has had a difficult season. Jeremy Peace made it clear that Berahino wasn’t for sale, despite him wanting to leave The Hawthorns. West Brom reportedly rejected a £21 million bid from Newcastle and a £23 million bid from Tottenham for the forward.
It’s fair to say that he didn’t take it well.
Although, it’s easy to forget that he’s young. He has showed maturity and began to get back into Tony Pulis’ good books towards the end of the season, which isn’t an easy thing to do. He decided to just play football, and got past his attitude problems. If Berahino hadn’t featured all season, it would be right for West Ham to immediately decline this deal, but Berahino has shown that he has grown up and his potential means that he would be a suitable replacement for Sakho.
If Sakho does leave, we could spend the £12-15 million we receive on a striker that would be second or third choice. It would improve strength in depth but would be a gamble. There isn’t enough value in the market at the moment to get a top top striker for this price, unless the scouts pull enough another masterstroke.
If we can get Berahino, who only 6-12 months ago was rated at £23 million for Sakho without paying anything extra, surely he would fit the bill. A versatile forward who can play on the left of the front three as well as up front, who has scored goals in the Premier League and would be extremely close to the England squad if he had played all season. This has to be worth the gamble.
There wouldn’t be too much pressure on Berahino either, as it is likely that we will sign another top striker for big money, meaning that he can settle into the squad.
Another positive to the deal is that Berahino has similar attributes to Sakho. Primarily a goal scorer with lots of pace, but can thrive in a front two.
As impressive as Sakho has been since he joined, if we do have to see him leave this summer, surely it makes sense to get a player that is worth more money, with more potential in return.
If Berahino’s attitude causes problems at West Ham, we can see him on and wouldn’t even see a loss because he’s worth more than he will have cost us. It seems that Berahino wanted to move to a big club, hence the attitude, so moving to West Ham would be a chance to impress for him at a big club. Hopefully that will stave away any potential issues with his temperament.
