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Suffice to say, neither preseason nor most of Fabio Borini's Liverpool career has gone to plan. Hopeful of making an impression--and after having done so on loan at Sunderland and briefly in the friendly against Shamrock Rovers in May--early in the summer, he instead found himself injured once again, falling awkwardly on his shoulder early in the friendly against Roma at Fenway Park. Harsh on a player with so much to prove, but even more complicated was the fact that Liverpool and Sunderland had only recently agreed a fee believed to be in the region of £14m for the player.
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet isn't giving up on the deal, though, regardless of the injury or the fact that Borini reportedly isn't completely convinced on the move yet. Poyet has acknowledged that his club need to be prepared in the event the move doesn't happen, but he remains confident that Borini will make the move to Wearside:
"We will keep working because we know him very well. I am still confident it will happen. We knew that after the injury it would take a little bit longer. The longer it goes, of course you start looking for other options, because you have to - that's my job. But every time you take a step forward in something, you stop because we want Fabio."
For as ambivalent as some on the Liverpool side of things are on Borini, Poyet and most Sunderland supporters seem unequivocal in their hopes to have the player at the Stadium of Light this season; little surprise between the weight of the goals he scored this season and his sheer likability, and their confidence in his ability to score regular goals in the Premier League appears to be far greater as well.
Hopefully for both clubs and the player the deal is settled soon enough; for Liverpool it would mean they're confident of bringing in a proven goalscorer up front, for Sunderland it would mean getting a player they've pursued for months, and for Fabio Borini, it would mean finally spending more than one season at a football club.
