Gareth Southgate urges Saido Berahino and John Stones to re-think Tottenham and Chelsea moves

England Under-21 manager Gareth Southgate has warned Saido Berahino and John Stones that moves to Tottenham and Chelsea, respectively, could risk . The West Bromwich striker and the Everton centre-back both handed in transfer requests earlier this week in a bid to force moves to the Premier League giants.

Mauricio Pochettino has made it a top priority to sign Berahino before the end of the transfer window following the departure of Roberto Soldado to Villarreal and with Emmanuel Adebayor also out of his plans. Earlier this week the 22-year-old forward also made it clear that he is likely to make the move to White Hart Lane after handing in a transfer request.

However West Brom are likely to keep him in the squad after making an official announcement on Tuesday 25 August confirming that they had rejected a second offer from Spurs. The proposed deal was worth £22m, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Meanwhile, the BBC revealed earlier this week that Stones had followed Berahino's lead in handing in a formal transfer request to his club, Everton. However, Everton have reiterated that the defender is to remain at Goodison Park this season after the club reportedly rejected three separate bids from the Blues – including one worth around £30m.

Now Southgate has warned the young English duo to reconsider their plans, saying that they could be hindering their development by leaving their current clubs.

"The key is initially that they need to play," Southgate said, as quoted by Standard Sport.

"So both of those players are currently at clubs where they are playing regularly, which is a great position to be in. With the senior team, Roy Hodgson will want as many of his players playing Champions League football as possible. That's where they test themselves against the very best."

Nevertheless, should Berahino moves to White Hart Lane he is expected to back up Harry Kane while Stones would have to vie with John Terry, Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma to get a place in Jose Mourinho's line-up.

"With the younger players, they need to play regularly and that should be high in their consideration, Southgate added. "I have seen what happens when players are not playing regularly and there's a moment their development dwindles and they don't progress."