THE REPORTS are as follows: QPR agreed a fee with Liverpool for Fabio Borini that is approximately ten million pounds. They offered him a salary in the vicinity of double his current money. This was rejected. Borini has said to QPR that it would take triple his money and, crucially, a clause which allows him to move for less than ten million pounds next summer for him to be interested in the move. Both those things.
Earlier in the window, after what I would argue was a moderately successful loan move, Sunderland made it clear they thought it successful enough to offer fourteen million pounds for Borini’s signature, yet Borini didn’t seem to entertain this offer.
Let’s accept the reports because it is these reports which have led to Borini getting down the banks.
In short, this seems clear – Fabio Borini doesn’t want to play for Queens Park Rangers. He’d do so if:
1. He got crazy money.
2. He could see how he could leave at the end of the season to then go and play for someone else.
Further, Fabio Borini doesn’t want to return to Sunderland. He went there last season. Did well. But perhaps he believes it to be a dead end. He’d have a case to think that. He did well, we can all agree he did well, their supporters were massive fans of his, he showed huge commitment and scored goals in big games but now, after that season, his only offers are Sunderland and QPR.
Fabio Borini biting his hand – (CREDIT: DAVE RAWCLIFFE/PROPAGANDA PHOTOS)
In terms of usual conversations about footballers, there’s a complexity here, perhaps an uncomfortable one. Fabio Borini clearly isn’t motivated solely by money but from reports we can accept we can see he would allow himself to be consoled by it for twelve months. He clearly sees QPR as nothing more than a stepping stone in his career and as a stepping stone he’d like to feel he can more easily step off as quickly as possible. If he was solely motivated by money then he accepts the highest bidder and goes.
There are other reports, other rumours. Borini is supposed to like Liverpool. He has a life here that he enjoys. He may well also think he can break into Liverpool’s set up. There are precedents for that. A long season beckons and Liverpool suddenly look a lot better playing two forwards and the third on the list, Lambert, looks short of the pace required to play in this Liverpool side. Other reports suggest he’d like to go back to Italy. Getting back to Italy when clubs in England will pay over ten million pounds for you is hard. Only five transfer fees over eight figures were paid in Italy this summer.
Borini has also never been settled – he’s 23 and he has played senior games for five different clubs. It wouldn’t be unlikely if he’d like his next move to be one he can properly get behind. A club to settle at. Sunderland was sold to him as a springboard and he doesn’t want QPR to become a prison. His next move could define his career. The next four year deal he signs takes him through to 27.
All this is very human. We are, as humans, motivated by a variety of factors in our career. We can, if given the opportunity, be motivated by material gain, by career progression, by location. Some of us don’t get that opportunity, we aren’t fortunate enough to be put in that position. But those of us who are trade off one motivation for another constantly. We may place money at the centre of our career, we may trade off short term gain for long term gain, we may choose location over salary or we may embark on a difficult path we believe to be eventually rewarding. There’s no definitive right answer. Everyone’s circumstances are different and different choices suit different people.
However, coverage and discussion of Borini is exceptionally negative. Borini gets slaughtered as greedy and/or delusional. His decision unfathomable. His demands unreasonable. People are “disappointed in him.” Disappointed in what exactly? That Liverpool Football Club didn’t receive fourteen million? Well they weren’t going to reduce the ticket prices using that money. (By the way, if they did it would be 14,000,000 / 19 / 45000 which is 16 quid off a game). That money isn’t getting taken from you. What are we disappointed in? That a young man chose to stay at a football club for the next four months. He would definitely play more for Sunderland or Queens Park Rangers than he will at Liverpool. We can all agree on that. But what happens next for him?
A lot of this is about what the gap between the top seven and the rest actually means. Wilfried Bony scored sixteen league goals last season. He’s a good player. He remains at Swansea City. Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton have all signed centre forwards, he has a release clause, yet he remains at Swansea City. How many league goals would he have to score to get a move? How many can he and Swansea City score? Swansea scored fifty four goals in the league last season – the most scored by a side outside the top seven. Bony contributed almost a third of them. If he wants to play for a bigger club – and possibly he doesn’t – what does he have to do? What is possible for him to do? His only option is to do it again.
Borini is at a top seven club – he’s at a top three club – and if he moves from this top seven club then when does he next get his chance? Maybe never? Probably never. So why throw it away for Queens Park Rangers? And if he does choose to throw it away why not ensure that he gets weighed in for it? If you are going to sell out your dreams, how much do you sell them for?
Lastly, then, the question becomes “should he accept his level is Sunderland?” Perhaps he should. They are one of this country’s great historic clubs with a marvellous fanbase. Perhaps he should accept the most he can be is a big fish at that sized pond. However it might be that he’d rather be any size fish back in a Serie A or La Liga sized pond but knows that a move to Sunderland or Queens Park Rangers without any clause allowing a reasonable, effective transfer fee sees him stuck in a location he doesn’t want to be in having simultaneously abandoned his ambition.
Fabio Borini being shouted at by another human – (CREDIT: DAVE RAWCLIFFE/PROPAGANDA PHOTOS)
The real life financial existence of elite footballers is something we can’t really appreciate. Their lives are, in comparison to ours, gilded. They should never have to worry about money. Few of life’s luxuries should be out of reach for them. That doesn’t equal happiness though; don’t get me wrong, it can make happiness a hell of a lot easier, but it doesn’t mean they will always be happy in their work. We know enough about their lives to know that by now. Playing football is brilliant. I can only imagine being brilliant at playing football is brilliant squared. It being your job is brilliant cubed. But if you’ve made playing football your job the idea you should be entirely subject to its whims reduces you simply to that occupation and to exterior perceptions of it.
To say he’s rubbish, he’s delusional, he’s taking Liverpool for a ride is disrespectful, not simply to him as a footballer but to him as a human on a career path. It demeans him not to respect his decision to expect Liverpool to honour a contract they agreed with him and it demeans him further to reduce his life options to two job offers and call him greedy for not choosing to go to either despite both offering to double his money. The tone of the discussion around Borini reduces all parties – footballers, football journalists and football supporters to judgemental, money-obsessed, nosey parkers, when instead he’s being what he is – a 23 year old lad with a career choice. He might make the right one, he might make the wrong one. Let’s not rush to crucify over what’s a complicated situation. We say we want our footballers to be more human. Here Fabio Borini, semi-incomprehensible tweet and all, is in a very human situation. He isn’t lucky enough to be Falcao, few of us are in our chosen profession, so he has to get on with being Fabio Borini. It isn’t as easy as we make it out to be.
Well said. It’s a shame that he’s surplus to requirements at Liverpool but we can’t blame him for not wanting to accept offers that didn’t appeal to him. I hope he gets the chance to prove himself over the next few months and either stay at LFC or get the move he desires.
let’s see, relegation fodder like QPR or Sunderland or potential CL appearances with Inter or Roma coming in for him in January or next summer.
Obvious choice. No exit clause from QPR plus large reward, no deal. Understandable too.
Well said chief! Excellent
Excellent piece, as usual Neil. What if we are missing something critical here? Perhaps he wants to stay with Liverpool to learn from Rodgers? Is that so far-fetched? He’s been at Sunderland – knows what to expect there. QPR has Redknapp – not exactly a tactical mastermind. Rodgers has proven that he can get the best out of his players. He can elevate, motivate, and mold a good player into an elite player. Perhaps Borini sees that and wants a taste? I don’t blame him. Will he get his chance to play first team football with LFC? Not likely. Will he be training everyday with a proven leader and excellent coach – absolutely. More so than at QPR or Sunderland. It seems to me that Borini is betting on the fact that he can learn more/improve more at LFC than at the other destinations. Good for him for putting his agent in his place.
I like that he wants to stay and fight it out. I never saw why people were rubbishing him in the first place even before this. And short of the Sturridge dance he’s got the best goal celebration in the side (Raheem’s is awful). Plus in Sydney we have a lad looks just like him. Start Borini and Lambert vs Villa.
I was with you until the last sentence.
Well said, Neil. People lose all perspective because of the sums involved, but footballers have such short careers. If my boss told me he’d like me to go and work for a worse company I’d have no reservations telling him where to go.
What would you say to a worse company but twice the salary?
rumour has it he wanted a £10m exit clause if they got relegated and that was a big problem for them too. You can see his thinking.
Outstayed his welcome. Don’t include him in the squad. Gone in january.
outstayed his welcome maybe – we’ve just moved on a lot very fast – but he has a contract. Could yet be useful.
Well said.
I hope he’s at least given a chance now at Liverpool. Having him and Lambert available as backup for the “Kite” cannot be a bad thing.
This reminds me so much of the attempted offloading of Henderson to Fulham for Dempsey (this really needs discussed more and Rodgers needs questioned over what exactly he was thinking). A great young player with plenty of potential who we are more than willing to discard. Perhaps a loan deal back to Italy would have been best but he’s here now and hopefully can make the most of it.
It is such a lazy comparison to make with Henderson (or even Skrtel which is another one that Borini advocates like to bring up too) as the club needed to make a move to address a greater need than he was filling a the time and he was otherwise still in the managers plans as shown by him getting 45-50 appearances that season, whereas Borini is probably going to need a major injury crisis for him to even make the bench.
Is it though? I think it’s a fair comparison when two players show an unwillingness to move based solely on a determination to succeed at a big club. Henderson’s situation differed slightly, as you have said, as we were trying to fill a gap in the squad but Borini staying shows he has belief in his own abilities that the manager clearly does not.
I say fair play to him for wanting to prove himself.
One other comparison I would make is Sturridge who turned down a loan move to us in Summer 2012 and got his permanent move 6 months later. Borini could just be holding out for something better.
Your Henderson comparison I think is a good one. Did Henderson want to “fight for his place”? If so, then I am glad he did because there are few now who would deny he is a key player in this team. Having Fabio Borini fighting for a place in this team may yet turn-out to be a good thing for both the player and the team. We would all want that surely.
As an aside, I hope it is all just Rodgers’ way of getting him a bit hungrier and more motivated to be at LFC.
Also, given the certainty that Sturridge will get injured at some point, I’m certain he will get a fair few chances, if only in cups and from the bench. And if Brendan has no interest in having 4 strikers in his squad, what is he going to do with Origi?
Borini is a far bigger sick-note than Sturridge. The guy is made from tissue paper and balsa wood.
It’s a fair point. Until hearing you on City Talk on Tuesday I wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. My feeling was that he wanted to fight for his place which, as you insinuate, should be respected. I think the truth is more about (again, as you point out) making sure his next move is the right move.
I don’t agree with your simplified reasoning for the fans wanting the £14m for him though. Even if delivered in a sarcastic jibe, I don’t think anyone expects ticket prices to fall as a result of his sale (or any amount of revenue for that matter). At Liverpool we’re all aware there isn’t a bottomless pit of money. The amount of investment in the team will come down to a few factors but in a nutshell it’ll be related to the net profit the club makes over what’s deemed to be needed to make the top 4. So, fans are simply looking at the fact that £14m for Borini could well mean £14m towards a replacement. As most would rather a replacement player for him with a value of £14m plus then it makes some people angry that that won’t happen as Borini has refused to go for his own reasons rather than what’s best for the club.
I’ve said it before though, Liverpool fans expect the utmost loyalty from our players but don’t always reciprocate it unless it’s convenient for us.
Your last sentence said it all, robin! Spot on!
Good article Neil
He was at Roma and was Brendons first signing after been on loan at Swansea, we were not great when he arrived and he had potential, he never got a game and agreed to Sunderland on loan to get games, he did OK. He knows he is behind Ballotelli and of course Sturridge but should he be behind Lambert? On price alone you would think not and he is young and wants to fight for his place. Anything wrong with that? Not in my book.
Borini may be one of those strange players that prepares to back his own talent, doesn’t care so much about money and wants to play for the reds and not a watered down version. He wants to prove Brendon wrong?
Didn’t Jordan Henderson do exactly the same and do we not love Jordan Henderson for it?
Of course Liverpool would like 13 – 14 million for him and not to pay his wages, but he has a contact and if he wants to stay and fight for his place then good on him, far more honest than taking money and playing for a team you don’t want to. Didn’t Agger show a similar desire when he turned down Barca and City?
There are far too many mercenary footballers, if I was Borini I would do the same , who wouldn’t want to play for the tricky reds and if he trains hard, then he should be given a chance. The league cup would be perfect for him and it would give Sturridge, Balotelli and or Sterling a rest.
For my money he is just what you want for a third or fourth choice attacker that plays across the front 3. I am glad he is staying because with the number of games we have I think we need him. If you can’t believe in yourself at 23 then when can you.
I was rejected at first from Oxford school of architecture, I persuaded them to give me an interview and then they offered me a place.
All Fabio wants is to play for the tricky reds, he has more experience and wants to fight for his place. Fair play.
At the end of the day, it boiled down to money, that’s what gets peoples backs up. If Borini had just come out and said, ‘I’m not going there, it’s not the right move for me’ I think people would be more understanding. But he talked to two clubs, and turned them down because they wouldn’t pay him enough.
This “wanting to fight for his place” stuff is nonsense. If he isn’t backing himself to move to one of these clubs, as a stepping stone, what makes him think he can break into this Liverpool team? He knows he can’t.
As Neil puts it, it is difficult to see how he has a better season for Sunderland than he did last season and it didn’t get him anywhere. It clearly didn’t boil down to money (which I find incredibly hypocritical when the people who are criticising him were the ones after the money for the club) because he is making less now than if he went to either Sunderland or QPR.
sorry but you’re talking nonsense. He would have got a decent payrise to at least £60K/wk if he moved. That’s a good 30% or so upgrade and possibly more.
Nothing to do with money. QPR and S’land are relegation fodder even though I rate Poyet very highly. Inter or Roma on the other hand are much bigger clubs with some problems attracting players and make much more sense for him – and he has the possibility of CL appearances depending on how things turn out this season.
In anycase his profile will remain much higher at lfc to get him a move to a decent club [likely in Italy] and you can’t criticise that decision. You would make it every day. some fans have been abhorrent in their criticism of him, it’s embarrassing.
Therapist?
Hope not.
Excellent article, Neil.
I agree with Neil wholeheartedly. I just hope his decision comes good and he does a ‘Henderson’ for us. Now, how lovely of a story would that be?
Fans see £10m – £14m as a very good sum of money that can go towards strengthening the team/squad. If he was sold to Sunderland in July maybe we’d have signed Falcao instead of Balotelli or signed a quality goal keeper. I don’t know. The point I’m making is fans are quite selfish – that’s probably the wrong word to use but when a player is not performing and there is a chance in bringing in a better alternative, fans usually want rid of the player. All we care about is the improvement of the team. So we look at it from a biased perspective.
Personally I don’t rate Borini, I don’t think he is a top 7 club level player so I don’t see where staying at Liverpool for another 4 or 12 months helps his career. Unless of course there is a big foreign club that is interested in taking him that we don’t know about. There were rumours Liverpool blocked a loan move for him to an Italian club. Inter or Milan apparently. If that’s true it would make sense him refusing to go to a lesser club (in comparison) like QPR or Sunderland. I don’t think he will get much game time at Liverpool. It would take a number of injuries for him to get a place on the bench. Remember, we signed Aspas and sent him on loan, then signed Lambert and tried to sell him. The player has worked with Brendan before. I don’t think he will show the manager anything new. For me, there isn’t a place for him to fight for.
For the league cup tie against Middlesbrough I can see us going with Lambert, Markovic and Lallana up front. Maybe with Borini on the bench but even that’s doubtful as I think Brendan will want one of Sturridge or Balotelli on the bench. We will see of course but my guess is Borini gets no more than 3 league cup substitute appearances before the January transfer window.
“Personally I don’t rate Borini, …”
Based on what? How many games have you seen him play? Me, not that many. I wasn’t too impressed with his statistics at Sunderland, but then I’m not that impressed with Sunderland – the quality of the squad, not the people or the history. I imagine it’s harder to score goals being serviced by Sunderland’s starting midfield than, say, Liverpool’s.
“I don’t think he is a top 7 club level player …”
But that’s kind of the verdict Chelsea passed on Sturridge, isn’t it? And the verdict that we ourselves almost passed on Henderson. And now those two are key cogs in our machine.
“I don’t think he will get much game time at Liverpool. … For me, there isn’t a place for him to fight for.”
If we find ourselves playing a diamond more and more, this means we’ll be playing two forwards more and more. That means both Sturridge and Balotelli will get proportionately less rest unless we decide to give up on the F.A. and League Cups. Assuming we try to stay competitive in those competitions, why wouldn’t you want another forward even if we try our hand with single-forward systems? Meaning, if we’re playing for one of the cups and Rickie has an off day or (knock on wood) gets hurt, should our only option be bringing in Daniel or Mario when you’re hoping to rest them for a game just a few days later?
“The player has worked with Brendan before. I don’t think he will show the manager anything new.”
That’s exactly it. Rodgers brought him for a reason. Injuries aside, Borini’s only opportunity to show his stuff was during a loan spell at a club that did well not to be relegated. He’s really not going to get a chance to show him what he’s really got unless it’s with our squad or something equivalent.
How about the fact he’s 23 and not shown anything like being a top level player? He had done well in the 80s, but nowhere near clinical enough to for a modern CL level forward. He’ll probably waste any chances he gets against lower division clubs in the league cup, again. The fact he’s been under so many managers and none want him should tell you something. He has the effort, but not the final product.
Poyet definitely wanted him, Brendan also definitely wanted him at Swansea and when he signed here after working with him previously at Chelsea. I’m not sure but I expect the Roma manager at the time we bought him still wanted him for us to have to pay 10 mil to get him. So despite being under “many managers” (3 of whom have been Brendan), I think think it is fair to say that they have all wanted him in the main.
I’m not even sure whether Brendan was all that keen to offload him this summer. He seems to me to be quite a loyal manager towards players he has built a good connection with and I can see him being a bit conflicted having to push Borini out the door to somewhere he doesn’t want to go. I can more see the transfer committee thinking that it was a very good bargain to sell him for that price.
I’m glad he’s staying and can’t understand why the club wanted to sell him. We need 4 strikers at the club, to cover all those games. Even if he only plays from the bench and in Carling Cups etc, he’ll be useful. But what if a striker gets injured? Or two? Can Lambert play 90 minutes twice a week? Four strikers is the minimum a club like LFC should have on its books.
And Borini is now a proven goal scorer in the EPL. Keep him. Play him. Make him earn those wages.
its clear borini and his agent wanted a loan deal to italy. that would have left him with just 1yr on his contract. this would mean a much lower fee for lfc to reinvest and greater bargaining power for borini – he could even wait out another 12mths loan, leave for free and get a large signing on fee plus big wages. so please don’t believe this isn’t about money, its always about money, oh and living the liverpool high life for as long a possible.
I don’t know about you but money definitely factors into my thinking when considering my next move but it definitely isn’t the be all and end all (as witnessed by my current salary). Money inevitably plays a role when you are talking about your career, but to say it is always about money just doesn’t add up in this case.
Even if he does go on a free to Italy in two years time I highly doubt they will pay him more than QPR were offering and that is after being on our wages for 2 years, which are also 50-100% less than QPR. Ironically, money seems to be the main consideration in the club’s decision making here as when you are playing 2 strikers and your third striker is 32, having a young hungry 4th striker around doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
So why don’t you cut the kid some slack and stop being so cynical. I don’t get what everyone expects him to do, just shut up and do what is best Liverpool? Why would he do that when Liverpool are wanting to cut him loose and clearly don’t have his best interests at heart?
I don’t think that’s true at all Ian. Why would he want to move to Italy when he is totally besotted with his British girlfriend who works as a model in the UK? And, as Tom said, QPR were offering most money. He wants a career playing for a CL club – he is already at a club who plays at that level so will stay and fight for another season. I think he is being brave.
Think this might be the first time I disagree with Neil!
I don’ t mind that he’s stayed, but I’d have preffered if we would have got £10-13M for him. I don’t think an offer of that size will come again. It’s not irrational for us to be bothered about the clubs finances given the past.
For the player, I’m not sure how not getting a game progresses his career options- it’s clear BR no longer fancies him- so where does he get his game?
If has genuine belief in his own ability he could’ve gone to QPR, played well and got the move he wants in the future. It’s not turned out too badly for Loic Remy.
If he’d have knocked back QPR from the off I would have understood more, but asking to treble his wage dilutes the nobility argument.
I agree completely with Neil. Sure the club would have been happy to sell him and it might have been a good bit of business for them but you don’t always get what you want with transfers, players and clubs a like. Absolutely no need to spout abuse at player who has never disrespected the club.
Loic Remy is a pretty good example of someone who has a quite a bit of talent but has had a bit of a journeyman career and has ended up on the Chelsea bench. He won’t remembered as a hero by any sets of fans or really know a good bunch of teammates but probably could of if he had made different choices.
Besides, I love fighters like Henderson, Lucas and Borini, who cop it in the neck from a lot of fans but just play harder to prove themselves. Partly because those fans shit me to tears but mainly because that is what it is all about isn’t it, striving to triumph over adversity and all.
This is me giving you a round of applause. :)
Remy does seem like a particularly good counterpoint to the Bony argument that a player could end up trapped at a lesser club, if the figures leaked for the deal that QPR offered are true then surely Borini could have taken less money from them in order to get suitable escape clauses in the event of things like relegation or an Italian side coming in for him next summer.
You are nitpicking here without access to the complete facts. He seemed to be after a pretty similar deal to Remy in that it had a low release clause.
How much money he was asking to be paid to do a job he didn’t really want to do is just market forces isn’t it? If anything it only goes to show that he is only weakly motivated by money in that it would take that much to get him to go to QPR.
Sunderland fan here, and this sounds entirely reasonable. Some of our fans have been slating Borini, but I said all along that the delay in him signing for us was likely because of his ambition. He wanted to play for us, just not if it meant him being locked into a long term deal with a club which (let’s face it) is at best currently lower mid table. Maybe if we pushed on and got ourselves into the top 8 he’d sign without all the complications. I can’t help but wish the lad well, and hope we see him again in the future.
“If he’d have knocked back QPR from the off I would have understood more, but asking to treble his wage dilutes the nobility argument.”
THIS.
Extremely well done mate. This actually moved my opinion about this more toward the player.
However, I believe you are missing with point respect to the loss of a potential £14 million (or so) gain for our Reds.
I would offer that the majority of fans slating Borini are not thinking of lessening ticket prices at all. Instead, I suspect that what we are thinking of is the transfer market. That those £14 million would enhance our chances of signing Reus, or some other high profile talent.
For example it would offset the signing of Balotelli almost entirely…
Otherwise – exceptionally well done!
True, but then who is/are being the “greedy” one(s). The player who is trying to work out the best move for his career or the fans who want to watch one more attacking talent, especially when we are not short in that regard at the moment?
Well done Nephew, you’re spot on.
If you’re reading this Fabio; YNWA.*
*Unless we would prefer cold hard cash for you, apparently.
TLDR he wanted to stay and fight for a place. Hope + defiance. Not that complicated.
If there are Liverpool supporters unhappy at him for making a personal career choice, they are in the minority and probably bonkers.
Agreed Glasses.
Get in crackedbobby. Fabio and Rickie are getting us to Wembley in the cup comps. I like him as a player and he’s Rodger’s signings from his swansea days like J’allen so it’s not like the player’s been forced on him by the transfer committee or whatever. We’ve gone from the thinnest Liverpool squad in memory to one of the most in depth over the course of this summer. No amount of quality off the bench is scoring 31 goals and biting people but it’s brilliant and we’re brilliant and everyone should embrace it anyway.
He wanted to go on loan to an Italian club. LFC wanted to sell him rather than get dicked around like they did with Aquilani. The wage demands were probably just a way of pricing himself out of an English move.
His problem now is that Rodgers appears to be a grudgeful man ( cf the Reina saga ) and will get his way in the end.
He won’t tolerate a sulky, bad influence in the dressing room.
Surely Borini would be better off shining at Sunderland than languishing at Liverpool.Especially if he has international aspirations.
Rodgers isn’t, as you say, “grudgeful”. He took exception to Reina’s antics once the loan with Napoli had been agreed. Borini has kept his head down and made his decision. The situations are completely different.
How can you be so stupid?!
Who would want to join a bottom 10 club from Liverpool???
Noone
Who would happily do their day job for 3x the wag for 1 year in a place that’s not ideal???
Everybody
Quit moaning the lad deserves a shot, and I expect him to be given one
Who would want to join a bottom ten club from Liverpool? Sebastian Coates?
How about giving Sunderland a bit of credit, what with us being “one of the countries most historic clubs”?
And also seen as we wouldn’t even be HAVING this conversation if it wasn’t for Sunderland. Besides, Jack Rodwell, Costel Pantilimon, Adam Johnson and Emanuel Giaccerini all came from argubly bigger clubs than Liverpool and they didn’t seem to mind.
Let’s not forget that before Liverpool’s incredible season last season, they were VERY average for years before that.
@Neil Atkinson – You’ve also missed the fact that Borini is an Italian International player having previously been called up to the senior side by Pirandelli. He missed out on Italy’s World Cup squad because he was playing for Sunderland, fighting relegation.
When Balotelli signed for Liverpool it pretty much cemented Borini’s thinking that he wants to be an Italian International regular and at the likes of Sunderland or QPR he is certain to be overlooked. At Liverpool, Borini knows that he’ll get an opportunity at some stage this season, even as a dynamic sub he’ll be heavily motivated to do well because the Italian International Manager will be watching Balotelli.
Can’t fault the lad for backing his own talent. Now he’s got a few months at least to show it and show Brendan he’s worth a go.
With the amount of games we’ll have, and especially playing 2 strikers ahead of the kite, there’ll no doubt be opportunities for at least a spot on the bench.
He’s probably got a year to get his nose in front of one of the other strikers, cos this Origi lad will be something special when he comes along.
Good stuff Neil
Just seen Borini give this article a thumbs up on Twitter which has now, on re-reading, had the unfortunate effect of making it read like a PR piece….
The thing I don’t get is that the lad has barely been given a chance. He came to us and was injured for approx 5 months of his first season so never really got into his stride or got settled. He was then loaned to Sunderland in his 2nd year where he did quite well and now in his third year wants to come back to us and give it a proper crack, so why don’t we allow him that chance?? He knows he’s not first choice but is still willing to work to earn a chance. Would Borini have been a better replacement for Balo than winger Markovic against Spurs especially in the diamond formation?? Why can’t Lambert and Borini play in the Capital One Cup as the front 2 allowing Sturridge and Balo to rest??
How much did Fabio pay you to write this article????
As much as you’re mom charged for the train we ran on her: Nothing.
Superbly written and captivating article.
Speaking from a Sunderland point of view, my issue with the whole thing had nothing to do with his wage demands or that he fancied himself at a bigger club or in a different area. My issue is that there must have been some willingness from Borini for our interest to have dragged on for so long. I know in the grand scheme of things they mean nothing, but even little stuff like him weirdly favouriting loads of Sunderland fans tweets about him coming back throughout the window (including the day before), the whole thing going over six weeks, it just stinks a bit. Think we deserved to be treated with a bit more transparency throughout. How much of that is directly Borini’s fault and how much is out clubs I have no idea, but both must be culpable and Poyet was convinced Borini wanted to come even up to the day before deadline day.
The whole thing was a mess and dealt with very poorly by our club and Borini, it leaves a bad taste for sure.
Good luck to him, he’ll always be held in high regard by me in spite of this and I’m sure he’ll find success somewhere.
Some v strange comments here suggesting that an opinion written in support of Borini has to be a put up job…
Why FFS? It’s an opinion by one person, happily it seems that many agree.
All I can say is what I heard from sunderland players, it is not Borini who decides where he plays or lives it is his wife
Erin is taller!
And if true-is there anything wrong with that? I wouldn’t move to another city for another job if my wife disagreed with it. It’s his family-they should be part of the decision.
Good article; interesting comments. Enjoyed reading that. Hope Borini gets a chance to contribute to a successful cup run or league campaign at some point to vindicate his determination.
Completely agree with the article, it is entirely his choice.And I have always liked his attitude. I thought the was going to be 3rd choice this season, behind Sturridge and Suarez’s replacement.
I found this to be an interesting article and it made me think of a few things that I hadn’t thought of before. Particularly the concept of using SAFC or QPR as a stepping stone to ‘better’ things which suggests that any move would be viewed as short term, especially with the QPR deal containing a release clause.
It does leave a couple of questions in my mind though. Whilst LFC is obviously a higher profile club and very likely to finish above SAFC and QPR, surely it is only a showcase for a player if he is playing and in FB’s situation; scoring goals. As 4th choice in a club – however great – where even the manager said ‘move on’ that is not going to aid any ambition to step up to an even ‘greater’ club – is it?
The other question is: is it acceptable from the club/fans perspective to have a player that obviously sees LFC as a stepping stone – albeit a bigger stepping stone than SAFC or QPR – to ‘greater’ things?
FB has tweeted about this article and appears to endorse it as an article which finally ‘gets him’.
Excellent piece. Probably best summed up by Borini tweeting Neil to say thanks, and the first tweet in response being someone saying ‘fuck you’. People are happy to dish out the abuse without thinking for one second about the realities of the situation for the player themselves.
It’s a short career, and players need to manage it as they see fit, not do what some idiot on Twitter wants.
The guy is deluded. Mid- to lower table is about his level and will eventually end up there.
Only a matter of time.
Judging from your comment you are probably mid-table at what you do too. Your point?
This article has made me look at Borini in a completely different way. You are an incredibly gifted writer Mr Atkinson.
He’s got the cajones does our Borini, and he will get his game. Borini will take his chance, maybe not in the next round of the Capitol One Cup or as a late sub with Liverpool cruising, but somewhere along the line, he’ll get his chance. He’s proved at Sunderland last year he has what it takes mentally to do it in the big games and they sure loved him in the North East, so whos to say if one bounces in off his arse he won’t turn into Chicarito f a few seasons back, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of a decade ago. I’m using Man United comparisons because their super-subs won them countless pints on the way to titles creating an air of invincibility. Who knows, by Christmas time,other clubs might fear the sight of Fabio Borini warming up on the sideline.
He’s dead right to stay at Liverpool and I’m delighted he has. Sturridge has questionable fitness.Balotelli has questionable disciplinary record. Borini’s been questioned but at least now he’ll be in a position to answer.
Fingers crossed for the kid.
Fantastic piece of writing. Why can people not see his POV? Borini can offer as much as Lambert.
Sunderland fan here – A really good article, I agree with almost every point you make. I would have loved Borini to return but I can fully understand he wants to give his Liverpool career another go ….and I can’t argue with that. We’d been led to believe by Poyet in the build up to the transfer deadline, that whilst it looked like FB didn’t want to come – he actually did. That’s where the average fan is left frustrated because we simply don’t know what is actually going on ….it dragged on almost 6 weeks from 18th July. First he goes to US on tour then returns with an injured shoulder …so I’m thinking perhaps the delay is he’s injured and why would we pay wages to an injured player ? Personally I think the extravagant wage demands to QPR were just a different way of saying “no thanks …unless you are actually going to give me all that money and I can live in London for a year” … I was also building my hopes up of a return of the faint possibility that SAFC might have at least had a conversation with him when we’d achieved safety along the lines of ….’if we agree a fee with Liverpool – will you sign for us?? ‘ surely that would have happened?? – but that would be common sense and logic …and this is football …anyway good luck Borini – you’re always welcome to come back to SAFC…good luck to Liverpool this season too
Think we had one lucky escape at SOL, HES NOT WORTH 8 million and his wage demands are outrageous
This may be the correct version of events but if so it makes me even sadder about the state of the game today. Every football fan grew up wishing they could play professionally. Playing would be all that mattered. Borini is fifth choice at Liverpool (sterling also ahead of him). And Rodgers had practically told him he won’t play. As long as he stays at Liverpool he will never get a move to another top side in England because they won’t sell him to one. No team in Italy can afford his price and wouldn’t pay it as he is still relatively unproven. So he had the choice to move to a lesser club, prove himself, and create a chance to move as a key player to a bigger club in England via that route. Instead he chose to go on the dole. Sit on the bench and pick up his money. The longer he stays the lower his selling price will be and the less happy the business called LFC will be. I have no respect for the man and to me he is another Nicolas Bendtner. Too proud and too high an opinion of himself. Mind you it worked for him didn’t it…
Top post. The abuse he has been given by some of the liverpool “fans” is embarrassing to say the least.
Have you seen his girlfriend from Toxteth? I wouldn’t want to leave either
One thing everyone is forgetting here, football is a short career… It’s not like the olden days, where footballers got at best £700 a week… We are talking about a multi millionaire who is only 23… A footballer who was idolised at SOL, surely you would want to play week in week out, it’s not as if he is a world beater, he could not command a 1st team place for his 1st few weeks at SOL.. Personally I think he has made the biggest mistake of his life… He will not be playing 1st team at Liverpool, he will not be sharp come January, and the two losers in all this will be Borini and LFC, THEY WILL BE LUCKY TO GET 6 to 7 million for him, and Borini will struggle to command 60k a week like he has been offered from SOL, AND QPR.. He’s playing snakes and ladders and I think come January he will be sitting a a very large snake that will have him fall backwards…. To be successful , you need commitment and I don’t think he has that commitment.. Take his penalties out of his tally last season and he did not pull trees up that’s for sure.. PERSONALLY I THINK SOL HAS HAD A LUCKY ESCAPE, LOT BETTER PLAYERS OUT THERE FOR 14 million