Former Premier League striker Saido Berahino has retired from football at the age of 33 to concentrate on coaching Burundi. The Midlands-bred Burundi international made his name with boyhood club West Bromwich Albion, where he had one especially prolific season of 20 Premier League and cup goals in 2014-15 before joining Stoke City for £12m in January 2017.
However, having already faltered at Albion in his latter days under Tony Pulis, Berahino flopped badly for Stoke, who were relegated from the Premier League in April 2018. After being given a second chance by then Stoke boss Gary Rowett, he scored five times in 2018-19, but he soon fell out of favour again and was released by mutual consent with three years remaining on his contract. He left for Belgium in August 2019, playing for Waregem and Charleroi before being signed by former Baggies boss Darren Moore at Sheffield Wednesday in August 2021.
He has since played in Cyprus, India and Slovenia, as well as for his native country. Previously capped by England at all age levels up to under-21, Berahino was twice called up to England's full squad by then manager Roy Hodgson but was never picked to play.
Berahino reserved special thanks for West Bromwich Albion, where he scored 36 goals in 121 appearances, including a hat-trick on his first start as a 20-year-old against Newport County in the EFL Cup in August 2013. In a statement posted on Instagram, he wrote: "The time has come to hang up the boots. I am proud and grateful to now serve the Burundi national team as a coach. This is not goodbye to football. It is simply the end of one story and the beginning of another."
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing