Premier League footballer shows up a day early for match, is mercilessly mocked by teammate

Footballers aren’t always known for being the sharpest tools in the box, though the stereotype is often a little harsh.

Not always, though, as evidenced by those stories of players injuring themselves by dropping salad cream on their feet or drilling into blood blisters.

The latest example of a footballer not being all that bright concerns Stoke City striker Saido Berahino. It’s not injury-related, but that doesn’t make it any less funny.

It’s fair to say the last two years haven’t gone brilliantly for Berahino.

Only five players scored more Premier League goals than the England Under-21 international in the 2014/15 season, but he has found the net just four times in 58 games since.

His last goal came in February 2016 – not great for a striker – and since then he has missed two penalties in one game for West Brom, served a drug ban, and failed to score even once after moving to Stoke for £12 million.

However, his latest misadventure – if not the worst – is surely the funniest.

Berahino might not have scored during Mark Hughes’ tenure as manager, but the Welshman is now gone and so he’s ready to turn over a new leaf.

With a trip to Old Trafford coming up, the 24-year-old knew a goalscoring performance against Manchester United would do plenty to banish those demons.

So he got out of bed on Sunday morning, put on his tracksuit, and headed down to catch the coach up to Manchester.

There was just one problem, though: the game wasn’t until Monday.

He might have got away with it too, if only teammate Kurt Zouma hadn’t been there to film him and put the whole thing out there for his 1.2 million Instagram followers.

If we were feeling mean, we’d make a joke along the lines of Berahino’s timing never being great.

After all, this is a man who sent a foul-mouthed tweet shortly after the sacking of his then-manager Steve Clarke, only to claim it was pure coincidence and he was just venting his anger about a flat tyre.

If he does rediscover his goalscoring touch tonight, perhaps that will be enough to see him on the plane with the England squad this summer… ahead of his appearance at Euro 2020.

(Images: Rex)