West Brom reject transfer request from Saido Berahino amid Tottenham links

West Brom have rejected a transfer request from striker Saido Berahino.

The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Tottenham, with reports this week suggesting Spurs had a £15m bid turned down by the Baggies.

Berahino was left out of the West Brom side which lost to 3-2 to Chelsea on Sunday.

A club statement read: "West Bromwich Albion have received a written transfer request from Saido Berahino.

"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."

Peace underlined the Baggies' desire to keep Berahino - who scored 20 goals last season - after turning down Spurs' opening offer last week. 

"We have no interest in selling Saido which is what I have told (Tottenham chairman) Daniel Levy," he said in a statement.

"I know we are living in an age where no club can say 'never' about the possibility of selling a player.

"However, the prospect of selling Saido is simply not on our agenda."

But Pulis has admitted the club would be powerless to stop Berahino leaving if Tottenham made them an offer they could not refuse. 

"I'm sure Tottenham wanted to keep Bale and Manchester United wanted to keep Ronaldo so I'm not stupid enough to say 'I'm not doing this' or 'I'm not doing that'," he said last week.

Berahino came through the youth ranks at The Hawthorns, having made his debut in August 2012, and spent time on loan at Northampton, Brentford and Peterborough.

He has made 83 appearances and scored 29 goals for the Baggies. 

Jamie Carragher has told talkSPORT John Stones should turn his back on Chelsea and stay at Everton.

The England central defender is wanted by the reigning Premier League champions, who have so far had two bids rejected, but the Anfield hero has urged the 21-year-old to remain on Merseyside.

Carragher told Drivetime: “Every player should want to play at the highest level and win trophies, play in the Champions League and play for his country. That’s the aim of every player. It’s just [a question of] what is the right time for the player to go.

“I think the right thing for John Stones would be to play for another couple of years at Everton. He’s playing really well but you have ups and downs as a young player, especially as a defender where you can make a couple of mistakes, give away a penalty, and your confidence goes. That’s part of being a defender and learning your trade.

“I think it would be better for him to know he’s almost guaranteed to play week in, week out for Everton, go through those times with Everton, and then when he eventually gets his move to a top English club, as he will do, he’ll be going there a bit more experienced, a better player, and a bit more mature in his game.

“When you get to that really top level, any little mistake, anything that’s not quite right, can cost your team a draw, or you drop three points, and that can end up costing a team the league title, or seeing them knocked out the Champions League.

“You don’t want to be learning on the job when you’re at a top club. I think it would be better for him to spend another couple of years at Everton and then make that move.”

Karim Benzema rubbishes exit rumours

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Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema looks to have ended any speculation regarding his future in the Spanish capital by taking to Twitter to confess Madrid is his 'home'.

The prolific French forward has been linked with a move to Arsenal over the summer as the Gunners look to strengthen their attacking options.

But, despite new Los Blancos manager Rafael Benitez considering moving Cristiano Ronaldo into the number nine role, the former Lyon forward has no intention of leaving.

Benzema didn't feature in Real's 0-0 draw with Sporting Gijon on Sunday in their opening La Liga fixture after being sidelined with a thigh injury.

Nasri and Kolarov send Manuel Pellegrini's men top of the Premier League

Goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri were enough to see off Everton as Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League table.

Both teams came close to breaking the deadlock but it was not until after the half-time when Kolarov finished from an almost impossible angle.

Nasri made sure of the win at the death with another well-taken finish to continue City's perfect start to the season.

City almost went ahead immediately through Sergio Aguero but Tim Howard moved smartly to block the shot with his legs.

It was the same outcome again minutes later as the Argentine was denied for a second time before Raheem Sterling was guilty of missing a clear-cut chance at the back post.

Everton had the ball in the net after 23 minutes when Romelu Lukaku the ball around Joe Hart but was correctly judged to have been offside after receiving the pass from Ross Barkley.

On the stroke of half-time, Lukaku clipped the crossbar from a free-kick after Tom Cleverley’s driving run was illegally halted by Fernandinho.

City shot out of the blocks after the break as Sterling cut in from the left and found David Silva in space who blasted the ball against the post.

And it was another moment of magic from Sterling which led to the opening goal.

Again cutting in from the right, he played a perfectly weighted ball to Kolarov who beat the offside trap to finish expertly from a very tight angle to put Manuel Pellegrini’s men in front.

It was nearly two moments later as Jesus Navas capitalised on a defensive mix-up, but was denied by the face of Howard after neglecting to pass to the better-placed Aguero.

Gareth Barry almost nicked a draw for the hosts but Vincent Kompany cleared the ball of the line.

And City secured the win on 88 minutes after a fantastic one-two between Yaya Toure and Nasri, before the latter lobbed the ball over a helpless Howard.

Liverpool can land psychological blow with win at Arsenal

Liverpool can land a psychological blow on Barclays Premier League rivals Arsenal with victory at the Emirates Stadium on Monday night, according to manager Brendan Rodgers.

The Reds travel to the capital for an early meeting with another side who have top-four aspirations this season aiming to continue their bright start after back-to-back 1-0 victories over Stoke and Bournemouth.

Rodgers admits the result is unlikely to have too much impact on the final standings at this stage, yet appreciates an away win over Arsene Wenger's men can greatly enhance the confidence among his group.

"You're playing one of the rivals that you're hoping to be competing with at the top end of the table; these games are important," Rodgers acknowledged.

"They don't give the full picture in terms of how it will finish up - you can draw or lose these games and still go on and achieve what you want to achieve. Of course it's for the confidence and psychologically they are important.

"No matter when these games come in the season they are always good for the psychological effect.

"We've got a tough game away from home but we'll arrive into the game with confidence. We know they're an outstanding group of players and some quality individual players but there's a real focus in this group for this season, a real toughness, mentally.

"We know that we've got that ability to scrap and fight to get a result as well as play good football. If we can go there and perform like we think we can and keep to our game-plan we're confident we can get a result."

In studying Arsenal's recent home defeats, Rodgers has discovered his side may not necessarily need to match their opponents in the ball-retention stakes to prosper.

Both sides have earned plaudits for being aesthetically pleasing under their current managers but Rodgers will be happy to cede possession to the hosts if it means they follow West Ham in taking three points at Arsenal this month.

"If you assess Arsenal's last 10 games they've lost at home, the teams that have won, it's been about dangerous possession," Rodgers noted.

"The teams that have been there have only averaged about four shots on target, with 43% possession. It tells you that you can go there and you don't need to dominate the ball, but you can dominate the space and that's something that is important when you go away.

"For us, tactically, we'll arrive into the game in a good mind of how we can win it. Like Arsenal, we do like to dominate the ball, but there are certain games where tactically you look at the approach of what is going to get you the result. That's something we've done and been working on this week."

Usain Bolt beats Justin Gatlin to claim 100m

Usain Bolt claimed a third 100m World Championships title thanks to a narrow victory ahead of Justin Gatlin in Beijing.

The Jamaican sprinter survived a scare in his semi-final after staggering at the start, and looked like finishing second after 70 metres of the final, with Gatlin in front.

But Bolt - so often a clear winner in major finals - dug deep and pipped his rival on the line, to claim gold in his season's best time of 9.79, with Gatlin second in 9.8.

The American had clocked 9.77 in his semi, yet the pressure of being so close to beating the world's fastest ever man appeared to slow him down at exactly the wrong moment in the final.

"Gatlin looked nervous," said Darren Campbell, a 2004 Olympic sprint relay gold medal winner for Great Britain.

"Gatlin couldn't open the lead he needed and he could feel Bolt coming."

Bronze was shared by the USA's Trayvon Bromwell and Canada's Andre De Grasse, who both clocked 9.911 when calculated to the nearest thousandth of a second.

Pedro strikes, Terry sees red as ten-man Blues clinch their first victory

Pedro scored 20 minutes into his Chelsea debut to help the ten-man Blues earn their first win of the season in a barnstorming encounter at West Brom.

Thibaut Courtois saved James Morrison’s penalty before the Spaniard opened the scoring with the aid of a deflection.

Diego Costa capped a flowing counter attack to double the visitors’ lead before Morrison’s half volley pulled a goal back for the Baggies.

Cesar Azpilicueta notched his first Chelsea goal to restore the Blues’ two-goal lead and, despite captain John Terry’s dismissal and Morrison’s second after the break, Jose Mourinho’s side hung on to claim a morale-boosting victory.

The high intensity of the game was set in the early stages, and the Baggies should have gone ahead after the lively Callum McManaman was tripped inside the box by Nemanja Matic.

Morrison went for power from the spot, duly sacrificing placement and making it easy for Courtois to save with his legs on his return from a one-match ban.

With Morrison smarting from his miss, Chelsea delivered a sucker punch through Pedro’s first goal in English football after a fine interchange with Eden Hazard.

The Blues then doubled their lead after a brilliant breakaway involving Azpilicueta and Willian before Pedro turned provider for Costa to slide in at the back post.

Morrison halved the arrears and made up for his poor penalty with a sweetly struck volley but Azpilicueta was on hand to restore the two-goal lead just seven minutes later with a cool finish.

After the break, the rollercoaster game took another twist when Terry, following a difficult week in which his selection came under scrutiny, was shown a straight red card for clumsily felling Salomon Rondon when the Venezuelan was through on goal.

The sending off tipped the momentum firmly in the favour of the hosts, and Morrison was on hand again to grab a goal back with a clever header from McManaman’s perfect cross.

Costa and substitute Radamel Falcao were both wasteful as the visitors looked to guarantee the three points, while Rondon and McManaman went close at the other end.

Serge Gnabry, on loan from Arsenal, looked bright in a brief cameo for the Baggies but they couldn’t make the numerical advantage count as Mourinho’s men held out.