Saido Berahino Retires At 33 To Coach Burundi — SkimNews
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- Saido Berahino has retired from football at 33 to concentrate on his role as a coach with Burundi's national team, his birth country.
- Berahino made his name at boyhood club West Bromwich Albion, scoring 20 Premier League and cup goals in 2014-15 and 36 goals in 121 appearances overall.
- Stoke City signed Berahino for £12m in January 2017 but he flopped badly as the club suffered relegation from the Premier League in April 2018, scoring only five times in 2018-19 under Gary Rowett before being released with three years left on his deal.
- Berahino played in Belgium (Waregem and Charleroi), Cyprus, India and Slovenia after leaving Stoke in August 2019, with Darren Moore signing him at Sheffield Wednesday in August 2021.
- Berahino was capped by England at every youth level through under-21 and called up twice to Roy Hodgson's full squad but never played a senior international.
- In his 'Letter To The Game' on Instagram, Berahino referenced going 'from the streets of Bujumbura to The Hawthorns' and described himself as 'a young refugee kid' carried through life by football.
- Berahino scored a hat-trick on his first West Brom start, a 20-year-old against Newport County in the EFL Cup in August 2013.
Why it matters: Once capped by England at every age level and called up twice to Roy Hodgson's senior squad without ever playing, Berahino never delivered on his early promise after a £12m switch to Stoke. His pivot to coaching Burundi — his country of birth — caps a career that peaked as a 20-year-old at The Hawthorns and wound down through Belgium, Cyprus, India and Slovenia.
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