Saido Berahino retires at 33 to focus on coaching Burundi

Saido Berahino has retired from football at the age of 33.

The former West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City striker confirmed the decision in a statement entitled 'A Letter To The Game' posted on Instagram, according to BBC. He will now concentrate on coaching the Burundi national team.

Berahino had spent over a year without a club before making the announcement, according to Yahoo Sports. His post brings down the curtain on a career that burned bright and early in the Premier League.

He made his name at West Brom, his boyhood club. He announced himself with a hat-trick on his first start, against Newport County in the EFL Cup in August 2013. He was 20. He looked unstoppable.

That promise turned into goals. Berahino scored 36 times in 121 appearances in all competitions for West Brom. His best return came in 2014-15, when he scored 20 goals in the Premier League and cup competitions.

That form made him a transfer target for Tottenham Hotspur. West Brom rejected his transfer request in August 2015, Reuters reported at the time. He was twice called up to England's senior squad by Roy Hodgson but never took the field, after representing England at every age level up to and including under-21.

He joined Stoke City for £12m in January 2017. He left in August 2019 without recapturing his West Brom scoring touch. Later spells took him to Belgium with Waregem and Charleroi, and back to England with Sheffield Wednesday, who signed him in August 2021.

For fans, this means remembering two Berahinos. The young finisher who lit up The Hawthorns. And the traveller who kept searching for that feeling again.

Coaching offers a new start. Burundi gets a coach who knows English football inside out, and Berahino gets a chance to pass on what he learned from a career that rose fast and taught hard lessons.