The West Brom boss believes the striker, who interested both Tottenham and Newcastle this season, can play for a top-four team if he makes the most of his “god-given gift”
West Brom manager Tony Pulis insists Saido Berahino can reach the top of the game if he continues to work hard and perform at The Hawthorns.
Berahino was the subject of bids from Tottenham and Newcastle in the past two transfer windows, with the striker's form affected as a result.
The 22-year-old claimed he would never play for chairman Jeremy Peace again after a move to Tottenham was blocked in September, though he eventually apologised to the club and supporters prior to his goal scoring performance in Saturday's 3-2 Premier League win over Crystal Palace.
And after helping the Baggies to victory, Pulis lauded Berahino as a person and says he can envisage the forward enjoying a fruitful career if he makes the most of his “god-given” talent.
"If he plays half the season now like he did, everybody will start talking about him. His mind is clear and he is set on his football again," Pulis said.
"I have had lots of conversations with him. It has not been a short period. This has been over three windows. Every window that opens up, he gets driven in a direction that maybe a more experienced or stronger character would deal with.
"He is a young lad, and he speaks to a lot of people and a lot speak to him. He gets pushed from pillar to post. You can speak to him, you think you have got him, and all of a sudden you lose him again.
"He is not a bad lad. I have been round to his house, I have met his mum, they are nice people.
"The most important thing is that he has a God-given gift and he should squeeze the pips from it, and have a great, great career."
West Brom managed to survive a second-half fightback from Palace at the weekend to claim a much-needed three points, with Berahino's strike in the opening period proving to be the all-important winner in the end.
Berahino took his goal tally in the top flight to four after finding the net against Palace, putting him just one strike behind West Brom top scorer Salomon Rondon in the pecking order despite his troubles this season.
Pulis added: "Everything will follow, whether now, tomorrow or the next day. If he is playing well, he will get the recognition. And the move. He wants to play for a top-four team.
"I don't think it is the money, it is the opportunity and the chance to show how good he is. You can't take that from the boy. You can't tell him not to want that.
"It makes people become stronger and better. He is a driven person, he has that ambition. You don't want to take that from him.
"He can't go anywhere, he is with us now, and he has to get himself fit and put himself in that position again that he was last summer. If it happens, it happens. If not, he has to keep playing and that is what he has done."
- Goal