'It is sadness': Ex-West Brom boss Tony Pulis reflects on Saido Berahino saga in new Baggies Broadcast

Another thing Pulis is associated with at Albion is the debacle over Saido Berahino and his public outcry over a failed move to Tottenham Hotspur back in 2015.

After netting 20 goals in 45 appearances the previous season, Spurs wanted to take the striker but a deal was never struck.

He publicly stated he would never play for former Baggies owner Jeremy Peace again, and the saga rumbled on for a handful of transfer windows before he eventually left for Stoke City.

Widely regarded as the best to come off the Baggies production line, Berahino never again hit the heights of his early Albion days and now plays out in Cyprus.

Pulis, who this week appears as a guest on the E&S' Baggies Broadcast podcast, spoke at length about the 30-year-old striker, and how he still feels sad about how the situation played out.

He said: "With great sadness in lots of respects.

"He was fantastic in that season for me and I liked him. I had a naughty chair in the office and I'd bring the youngsters in if they had done something wrong.

"They'd come in and make me a green tea and Saido was in there more than anyone else!

"The opportunity to go to Spurs really impacted him, and I'm convinced his agent told him it was definitely going to be done.

"He never, ever reclaimed the form he had shown before that which is a sadness.

"I remember going around to his house and his mum lived with him, and I spent some time with Mum and Saido privately, to get to know more about his character.

"And behind all the rigmarole that surrounds a good young player, he was an insecure kid."

After leaving Stoke he moved to Belgium before spending a short time under Darren Moore at Sheffield Wednesday.

Following that he signed for AEL Limassol in Cyprus back in 2022.

Pulis recalls his assistant, David Kemp, making a prediction back in 2015 when the saga began unfold with regards to the striker's future a career path.

And Pulis, who is now retired from football management and living down on the South Coast, explained how he 'hopes and prays' that the striker is now enjoying his life and his career.

He added: "Some players come in and leave, but Saido was a player where at times I do sit back and think what an opportunity he had, and he put himself in that position, with how well he was playing and with his goals.

"David Kemp was great at seeing things and he said at the time by missing all this training he was never going to be the same player and he turned out to be correct.

"Like I said, it is sadness and he most probably carries a bit of that every day.

"I really hope he is okay and enjoying life with a family and he is settled and has got everything he wants, I hope and pray, because as a boy I liked him."

Part one of 'Baggies Broadcast meets Tony Pulis' will be available from Tuesday on Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple.