Spurs expected to bid on England youth international within 48 hours

Last week, Peter O'Rourke reported at ESPN that Tottenham was "preparing" a bid for West Bromwich Albion winger Saido Berahino. We wrote about it. It seems like a pretty good deal at the time. Now, O'Rourke is doubling down, claiming that despite the first team being in Denver for the MLS All-Star Game, Tottenham is expected to put a bid in for Berahino "within 48 hours."

We've already detailed the reasons why a move for Berahino could be a thing, and not much has changed here except for the time table. Berahino is likely ready for a step up to the next level of club, and while West Brom is ready to double his wages to £30k/week, he can probably expect to make at least that at Spurs, and at a much bigger club. The new two-day time table would put the bid very close to Spurs' match in Denver, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. After all, I assume Daniel Levy's phone has international minutes.

A bid is good, right? But let's not get ahead of ourselves. O'Rourke suggests that it might take a bid of around £20-25m to get West Brom to sell. Meanwhile, it's not clear whether West Brom would even accept Spurs' first bid. Or second. This could drag out a while.

While Berahino's fast, can play off the left wing as well as up top, and loves having the ball at his feet, he's also a bit of a luxury player for Spurs, especially in the absence of our coveted DM. That said, he's only 21, has played with Harry Kane in the England youth setup, and is almost certainly a better backup striker already than either Emmanuel Adebayor or Roberto Soldado. He's also got an impressively high ceiling. £25m feels like a lot of cheddar even with the "English premium," but it would probably be worth it.