West Brom reject striker Saido Berahino's transfer request

The Baggies rejected an offer from Tottenham last week and manager Tony Pulis dropped the 22-year-old for their 3-2 home defeat against Chelsea on Sunday, saying the forward was not in the right frame of mind to play.

The Baggies, who signed strikers Rickie Lambert and Salomon Rondon during the close season, currently sit bottom of the league table with just one point from their three games so far.

"West Bromwich Albion have received a written transfer request from Saido Berahino," the club said in a statement posted on its website (www.wba.co.uk).

"The request has been rejected and the club's position remains unchanged from that outlined in the statement from Chairman Jeremy Peace of August 18," the statement added.

Peace had issued a strongly worded statement assuring fans that Berahino would not be sold.

Berahino, who is contracted to West Brom until the summer of 2017, has scored 19 goals in 72 Premier League appearances for the club.

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)