Why Saido Berahino Would Not Be a Great Signing for Chelsea
At 21, West Bromwich Albion's Saido Berahino is seen as a rare breed—an English striker with a reputation for scoring goals.
He has 18 of them this season and is among the Premier League's hottest youngsters.
When we consider players matching that description, it's not long before Chelsea are seen lurking in the shadows, weighing up the prospect of what a move could mean for them.
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The club has carved out a reputation for being a finishing school of sorts in more recent times.
The business model at Stamford Bridge is such that young talent is purchased, nurtured at the club and on loan before being integrated into the first team or sold.
The latter has seen Chelsea make significant profits with players such as Kevin De Bruyne moved on in multi-million pound deals, while Thibaut Courtois has been the most high-profile beneficiary, replacing Petr Cech as first-choice goalkeeper.
Despite Berahino's reputation, peel back the layers and it's clear there is still much for him to prove in the Premier League.
He hasn't scored for his club since early March and four of his 18 goals this term came against non-league Gateshead in the FA Cup.
Indeed, his season has been one of feast and famine; Berahino's form has fluctuated considerably.
He scored six goals in five games in September and October, but when the Baggies' form dropped, he struggled also, enduring a drought that lasted until New Year's day.
That was 11 games in which he didn't score. Take away those four against Gateshead, too, and Berahino has just six goals in 2015.
It's not exactly goalscoring form to be getting excited about.
Given his age, that's to be expected. Despite what the player may think, he isn't the finished article and he needs more time to mature.
Which is why he doesn't fit the bill for Chelsea.
We can talk about that finishing school policy, yet Berahino's passed that stage in his development. When he moves from West Brom, it won't be to spend time on loan across Europe or with another Premier League club.
The expectation will be for him to continue as he has at the Hawthorns, to be playing every week and be the focal point of a team's attack.
That's not going to happen at Chelsea—a club where the loan system is used effectively and players who arrive need to be ready to play for Jose Mourinho, if not they're traveling elsewhere.
Bigger names than Berahino have failed in that regard.
Berahino's West Brom form has hinted he is a more than capable player in English football's top flight. But a Chelsea player? Not quite; not when he has Diego Costa for competition.
Costa is the benchmark for any striker wanting to fit in at Chelsea these days. He's the touchstone for which all are compared, much like Didier Drogba in his pomp.
Costa's impact has been outstanding. He has transformed a toothless attack into one of the Premier League's most formidable, doing so almost single-handed.
Until his arrival, the mention of Chelsea front men was a punch line, but now that punch carries enough weight for a knockout blow—19 of them if we're counting his tally in an injury-ravaged debut campaign.
Sure, Eden Hazard and the others were always there prior to his signing, yet when we're talking strikers, nobody has matched Costa since Drogba's farewell in 2012.
Chelsea's plan is clear: Costa holds the crown for now while the club nurtures their own strikers like Dominic Solanke and Patrick Bamford.
Playing regularly in the Premier League, Berahino is probably ahead of Bamford when we consider experience, but that is to his detriment.
Berahino's not a third-choice striker in the way we expect Bamford to be when he's eventually integrated with a view to becoming a more regular starter.
Nor is he a starter at Chelsea, and that's his problem. Berahino clogs the pathway at Stamford Bridge.
The youngster is competing with some big names if he has hopes of ending up at a top-four team. Right now, that's not going to be Chelsea.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes
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