Transfer market move gives West Brom some hope

With the Baggies keen to add two options to their frontline, they were given a boost in pursuit of at least one of those targets when Southampton agreed a club-record fee of £21million for Sofiane Boufal from Lille.

And with the Saints' forward line bolstered, they can afford to let Albion target Jay Rodriguez leave St Mary's Stadium on loan.

"A thought with Jay is to see whether he will stay with us or go on loan to another club," Southampton boss Claude Puel admitted.

The Baggies have endured a frustrating summer in the transfer market, signing only winger Matt Phillips for £5million and Everton left-back Brendan Galloway on loan.

They were close to completing a club-record £16m deal for West Ham's Diafra Sakho, but fitness concerns put paid to that move and Albion have been spinning their wheels ever since.

The Baggies' struggle to sign reinforcements in attack has led to a further delay in the exit of Berahino from the club.

Albion were ready to let him go this summer, following two transfer windows of speculation, but only if replacements were found first.

With less than a week to go before the window shuts, it looks increasingly likely that Berahino will remain a Baggies player for the final year of his contract.

The Burundi-born striker's prime suitors, Stoke City, warned they are losing patience in the hunt.

"We're quite a way down the line with that one, in terms of going back," said Stoke boss Mark Hughes. "I'm not really up to date in terms of where we are at this moment in time.

"You have to let these things run their course and give them the time that they deserve.

"There may well become a point, not necessarily with these negotiations, but certainly some deals just go on and on and you get to a point where you have to make a decision to move on.

"There have been deals this window where we've made the decision to do that but aren't in the public domain like this one.

"We're still there, we're still of the view that something may happen but we're close to a point where maybe we have to look at alternatives."