Ex-West Brom & Stoke striker Berahino retires at 33

Former Premier League striker Saido Berahino has retired from football at the age of 33 to concentrate on his role as a coach with Burundi's national team.

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.

But, having already faltered at Albion in his latter days under Tony Pulis, Berahino flopped badly for Stoke, who went on to suffer relegation 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 until he was released by mutual consent with still three years remaining on his contract.

Having left Stoke in August 2019 for Belgium, Berahino played at 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, having previously been capped by England at all age levels up to and including under-21.

Berahino was twice called up for England's full squad by then manager Roy Hodgson - but was not picked to play.

Berahino reserved special thanks for his first club, for whom he scored 36 goals in 121 appearances in all competition, 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, entitled 'A Letter To The Game', posted on Instagram, Berahino wrote: "I want to thank West Bromwich Albion for believing in me when I was a boy.

"Those years at the club, the goals, the fans, the moments, they will always be special. There were highs and lows, mistakes and lessons. I learned that the game can lift you up and test you at the same time.

"The time has come to hang up the boots. My body and my heart are ready for the next chapter. I am proud and grateful to now serve the Burundi national team as a coach. Giving back to the country that made me, and helping the next generation, feels right.

"To my family - you have been my strength. To the fans who stayed with me through every chapter - I will never forget your support. This is not goodbye to football. It is simply the end of one story and the beginning of another.

"Football has given me everything. From the streets of Bujumbura to The Hawthorns, from the Premier League to places I never imagined I'd play - this game carried a young refugee kid through life."

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