West Brom were the winners from £12 million Stoke City deal: View | OneFootball

Saido Berahino was a star for West Brom in the 2014-15 season, scoring 20 goals in 45 appearances.

It seemed that all was well and that mid-table Albion would receive a huge fee for a player who at the time was a young talent, and who was only at the beginning of a seemingly fruitful career.

Unfortunately for the Baggies and Berahino, it didn't turn out this way, and a bout of off-field conduct among a string of poor performances eventually saw the forward sold in January 2017 to Staffordshire side Stoke City.

The £12 million that West Brom received at the time felt low, but in hindsight, they got a great deal with the former England under-21 star never really making it to the big time.

Saido Berahino looked like a potential future star at West Brom

Having come through West Brom's academy, Saido Berahino was very much touted to be a future star for the Baggies.

After a number of successful loan spells out at various Football League clubs, the Burundi-born striker would return to the Hawthorns, in search of making himself a first-team footballer.

The manager at the time, Steve Clarke, gave Berahino his opportunity and the striker duly took it.

A late winner at Old Trafford was the highlight of a successful breakthrough campaign in which he contributed to the team with nine goals in 35 appearances and deservedly was awarded a new contract till June 2017.

The following year, he really took off and cemented himself as West Brom's first choice striker, adding another 20 goals to his West Brom tally.

Despite his on-pitch abilities being clear, the youngster was nothing less than chaos off it.

Having been charged with drunk driving multiple times and taking part in an interview in which he stated his ambition to 'move onto bigger things', West Brom decided they would listen to offers for him of £25 million plus.

Tottenham interest seemingly turned Saido Berahino's head

For many, these life issues for Berahino would deter them from buying him.

But, for Tottenham, they had a manager who had a proven record of nurturing young players in Mauricio Pocchettino, so they decided to enter the race and bid for West Brom's number nine. Multiple bids were received by the Baggies, but nothing met their valuation.

While this was all going on, Berahino tweeted that he would never play for them again, before deciding to go on strike. The strike didn't last long, but for Berahino, the damage was done. Another tumultuous 18 months was spent at The Hawthorns, scoring a meager four goals in that period and serving an eight-week suspension for failing a drugs test.

Finally, for Berahino and Albion, the spell ended with Stoke putting in a £12 million bid, which was promptly accepted. Tony Pulis, the West Brom manager at the time, said this about the attacker: "I've spent two and a half years at this club and he's not my problem anymore. I wish him all the best."

Saido Berahino's career tailed off at Stoke City

Having splashed out an eight-figure fee on the forward, Stoke still had high hopes that Berahino could return to his best and prove that he is a Premier League forward.

In truth though, the deal was a real let down for the Potters and West Brom seemingly received a great fee for a player who struggled to reciprocate his early form.

During his one-and-a-half seasons in the Premier League with the Staffordshire outfit, Berahino was unable to add to his goalscoring tally, playing 28 games and providing just one assist.

It was not what either the club or the player had envisaged and at the end of the 2017/18 season, the club got relegated with Berahino watching from the stands due to further disciplinary issues.

A season in the Championship followed, but the form never returned and, another arrest for drunk driving in February 2019 ended the forward's time at Stoke with his contract being terminated by mutual consent.

Stoke's inability to see Berahino's off-field issues was a problem, costing them a significant sum of money and was symptomatic of a period at the club where they made seemingly clueless investments on players.

Saido Berahino deal was one that West Brom did well from

Since leaving Stoke, it hasn't got much better for the striker, who has been at various clubs but found a home hard to come by.

Stints in Belgium and an average season at Sheffield Wednesday haven't set him back on his path to stardom, and now he resides at Cypriot team, AEL Limassol, managing just four goals in his 44 appearances for them.

West Brom must look at the deal they got for their number nine as a superb bit of business.

Yes, the talent Berahino had could have taken him to much better levels than them, but his demeanor and attitude towards football cost the former England youth international dearly.