Sometimes it feels as though Fabio Borini has been linked with a move away from Liverpool since nearly the moment he arrived, one of manager Brendan Rodgers’ first signings and one that, as with the similarly hand-picked Joe Allen, hasn’t come close to justifying the outlay.
Most recently, Lazio and Fiorentina have been seriously linked, with suggestions Borini might even be willing to accept a move. With Lazio, third in Serie A last season and in the Champions League, there has even been the suggestion he would accept a wage cut in order to get a deal done and move on.
In that case, though, a deal was reportedly held up by Liverpool’s insistence that £5M wasn’t enough for the out of favour striker. As a result, Lazio, understandably not in the mood to bargain for a player Liverpool clearly don’t want on the books, appear to have backed away from a deal for the striker.
That has left Liverpool once again in a position where they could be stuck with Borini for another year. And that in turn has led to recent reports from journalists with connections to Sunderland that the Black Cats see a chance to bring Borini back to the club for a second loan spell.
Borini had success with Sunderland in 2013-14 on loan, being named the club’s young player of the season. They were even willing to pay £12M for him at the end of it, but Borini’s determination to play for a bigger club led to wage demands Sunderland never could have met and killed the deal.
The player reportedly still hasn’t changed his stance, meaning there is no interest in trying to bring him on permanently on Sunderland’s part. They’d be more than happy, though, to pay his wages for another season, and the reports appear both reliable and fairly sensible. At least from Sunderland’s point of view.
For Borini, it has to be a little disappointing after Lazio looked to have given him a permanent option that included Champions League football. Similarly it’s not great for Liverpool, though this being the end result was always a risk when they demanded Lazio up their bid.