Stoke City fell to a 2-0 Premier League defeat to relegation threatened Swansea City.
Swansea City’s Leon Britton in action with Stoke City’s Saido Berahino
When Stoke City sealed the signing of Saido Berahino it seemingly brought an end to a period of instability for the 23-year-old forward. For well over a year, Berahino had been heavily linked with transfers to Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace – before Mark Hughes swooped to secure a £12 million deal during the January transfer window.
However, the once-highly rated striker has struggled in front of goal of late; specifically, Berahino is yet to score this season. Indeed, the former West Bromwich Albion man’s last league goal occurred as far back as February 2016, in a 3-2 Baggies victory over Palace.
Berahino’s latest display – the 2-0 loss against Swansea City – showed little sign of encouragement. The 23-year-old missed two significant chances to score with his head and was withdrawn during the second half for substitute Ramadan Sobhi, as Stoke fell to a disappointing defeat that included a missed penalty from their Austrian international Marko Arnautovic.
Berahino has suffered from an inconsistent spell since a fairly prolific 2014-15 campaign whilst still at the Hawthorns – in which the forward bagged 20 goals in all competitions.
Stoke City’s Saido Berahino in action
Indeed, since that impressive season, Berahino has been subject to drawn-out transfer bids from Spurs, left-out of the West Brom side because of disruptive transfer sagas, been at the centre of Twitter controversies, criticised by his then manager Tony Pulis, threatened to go on strike, saw a failed transfer bid from Newcastle United, placed on a specific training regime in France after being labeled overweight, and served an eight-week suspension.
Unfortunately for Berahino, the move to Stoke has so far proved fruitless – as demonstrated by the reaction from supporters of the Potters expressing their dismay at their January signing.
Stoke City’s Saido Berahino
In the aftermath of Berahino’s performance during the defeat to the Swans, many observers took to Twitter to offer their viewpoint on the former West Brom goal-getter; with comments including drawing unfavourable comparisons with Stoke’s other attacking alternatives, and even criticism of manager Mark Hughes’ judgement when deciding to sign the front man in the first place.
Here is a taste of the Twitter reaction to Berahino’s latest Stoke performance:
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