Saido Berahino hits out at West Brom 'fat' claims

The 23-year-old forward left Albion earlier this month to join Stoke for a fee of £12million that could rise to £15million and has now lifted the lid on a troubled final 18 months at the Hawthorns.

Berahino last played for the Baggies in September with boss Tony Pulis repeatedly saying he was not fit enough for selection.

Yet Albion still made several new contract offers, all of which were turned down.

Asked on Friday during his official unveiling at Stoke why he had not been playing, Berahino said: "It is hard to explain, because the reason they were saying in the press was the opposite to what I knew.

"I was accused of being fat - but how can you become fat after starting three games in the league, and then being dropped? Suddenly you are unfit? So it is a question mark.

"They never actually told me why I wasn't playing. It could be because I didn't sign a new contract."

Pushed on it possibly being linked to the contract situation, Berahino - whose deal had been due to expire in the summer - said: "I think it is, because if you see, they offered me three different contracts in the space of three or four months, so it could be part of it.

"And especially when, from the first one, I said to them I didn't want to sign because I didn't feel like I was part of their plans, and they still went and offered me a new one.

"I didn't want the fans thinking I was rejecting it because I'm bigger than the club - that's never been the case.

"I'm not bigger than West Brom - they made me who I am right now and gave me that platform, so it was hard for me, getting all that abuse from the fans. They made life hard for me and my family.

"They didn't understand exactly what was happening, but the people involved in it know exactly what happened."

Berahino received an England call-up after making his first-team breakthrough at Albion, netting 20 goals during the 2014/15 season.

But his progress was blighted by a number of off-field misdemeanours and he fell out of favour in dramatic fashion after threatening to go on strike when denied a deadline day move to Tottenham in summer 2015.

Following the concerns expressed about his weight and fitness earlier this season, Berahino was sent by the club to France for a personal training programme.

But he said: "They (Albion) had to cover themselves - the club always has their own interests. They say what they have to say.

"I know why it could be that I wasn't playing."

Berahino went on: "The lowest point was probably this season, knowing that I'm not travelling with the team, training with the Under-18s and the Under-23s at times.

"That was the hardest part, not being involved and not being told why. I was very lost. They made it so hard for me, when somebody's doing something and not explaining, not even taking a phone call from you.

"I'm not a trouble-maker. Yes, as a young lad I made stupid mistakes and got caught in the papers a few times but I'm not somebody that would want to harm anyone.

Two weeks before his move Berahino posted a video on Instagram of him jogging, having previously posted a topless picture on snapchat to underline his fitness. He says they were not aimed at West Brom but at friends because "everyone was saying 'fat boy'!"

He continued: "I've had fans who said I was leaving because of money and I'm a money-grabber.

"I got offered a contract after the 2014-15 (a season in which he scored 20 goals for West Brom) which was way more than I expected and I refused to sign it because I believed the club wasn't going in the right direction for me.

"If I was a money-grabber I would have signed.

"And after that I was offered three more contracts - it was a lot of money, but if I'm not happy where I'm playing or feeling I'm part of the group I'm not going to sign."