West Brom are braced for a battle to keep Saido Berahino after he handed in a transfer request.
The striker has asked to leave in an attempt to force through a move to Tottenham after Spurs had a bid rejected last week.
The Baggies instantly dismissed his request on Monday and reiterated their desire to keep the England Under-21 forward at The Hawthorns.
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. There will be no further comment.”
Peace is a famously tough negotiator but has admitted the Baggies are unlikely to turn down a mammoth bid for the 22-year-old.
Berahino was dropped from the squad which lost 3-2 against Chelsea on Sunday after boss Tony Pulis felt he was not in the right frame of mind to play.
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It is understood Berahino was happy to face the champions but Pulis wanted to take him out of the spotlight and it is unlikely he will feature in the Capital One Cup visit of Port Vale on Tuesday.
Pulis has grown increasingly frustrated at the situation surrounding the forward and has called for the transfer window to close before the season starts to avoid unsettling speculation.
Baggies skipper Darren Fletcher also admitted the squad were paying attention to the saga but would give Berahino, who scored 20 goals last season, their blessing if he left.
“You pay attention to it but it’s out of our hands. It’s between the clubs and Saido. It’s their business,” he said.
“I can’t speak highly enough about how good he’s been. He hasn’t been any trouble, he’s been fantastic ever since I’ve been at the club and he’s always had the right attitude.
“For us, if he gets his move and leaves we will send him our best wishes and if not, he’s a fantastic player who is well-liked in the dressing room and will be a great player for us this season.
“People will say we missed (him) but I thought Salomon (Rondon) was different class up front on Sunday and showed that if Saido moves on we have a really good player on our hands.”
Berahino came through the youth ranks at The Hawthorns, 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.
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