Last summer, despite compelling offers from both Sunderland and QPR, Fabio Borini chose to stay and fight for his place at Liverpool. What followed was far from ideal, with the striker scored a single goal and two assists in 18 mostly substitute appearances and never appeared to be a player that manager Brendan Rodgers had any kind of trust in.
This time around, though, with it having been made more than clear that the 24-year-old Italian has no future at the club, it would likely be different. This time around, if an offer came for Borini to move on to another club—to a club that actually wanted him around—the signs point to him accepting the move, at least judging by the recent statements made by his agent Marco de Marchi.
"We will have to talk to Liverpool," admitted de Marchi, who has in the past always been surprisingly honest and forthcoming about his client’s situation, something that can rarely be said about an agent. "Several teams have asked for Fabio on loan, but Liverpool have refused in light of the €18M offer they received last summer from Sunderland."
If Liverpool plan on holding on to Borini in the hopes of receiving an €18M offer for him this summer, though, the end result could be the same as last year. Because with another year gone on his contract, with the player a year older and having played little, and with Liverpool clearly desperate to be rid of him, the reality is that the club are not well positioned.
Sunderland bid €18M—or around £13M—for Borini because he had just finished a season on loan with them where he had been named young player of the season and manager Gus Poyet rated him highly as a hard working attacker who could play multiple positions. Poyet is long gone, though, and Borini’s solid season is a year in the past.
QPR, meanwhile, matched Sunderland’s bid. They were desperate for a striker with league experience on deadline day and the Black Cats had helped to set the market. That’s a dynamic that quite simply no longer exists, and it’s only financially troubled mid-table Italian clubs like Lazio who are now rumoured to be interested in the player.
And they won’t be paying eight-figures for his services. In fact, they’re probably amongst those who have asked about bringing Borini in on loan—likely with Liverpool subsidising some of his wages. Fabio Borini gambled last summer that he could make it at Liverpool. Having lost that gamble, both the player and club are far worse off for it.