Fabio Borini

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Fabio Borini
0Full Name	Fabio Borini
0Date of Birth	29 March 1991
0Place of Birth	Bentivoglio, Italy
0Position	Striker
0Chelsea career	2007 - 2011
0Debut	10 September 2009
0Games (goals)	8 (0)
0Other clubs	Bologna (youth) Swansea City (loan) Parma Roma Liverpool Sunderland (loan)

Fabio Borini (born 29 March 1991) is a striker who formerly played for Chelsea. Whilst largely being a Reserve team player, he made a number of cameo appearances as a substitute.

Contents 1 Before Chelsea 2 Chelsea career 3 After Chelsea 4 International 5 Statistics

Before Chelsea

A native of Bentivoglio, Fabio spent a number of years in the Bologna youth system, scoring hundreds of goals. His prolific nature which alerted Chelsea’s scouts, and they took a look at him on trial in pre-season in the summer of 2007. Two goals in a friendly against Malmo and impressive performances throughout earned him a scholarship and a permanent move to England.

Chelsea career

He settled pretty quickly and, with a solid grasp of the English language, adapted fairly well, and endeared himself to his team-mates by scoring regularly early in his Chelsea career. For much of the campaign he was second only to Gael Kakuta in both goals and overall production, as the youth team put together one of their more impressive campaigns of recent years. His second year was arguably better – stronger, fitter and fully settled, he started 2008-09 superbly, scoring 12 goals in his first 12 games across both youth and reserve levels. He progressed to the reserves on a full-time basis, taking the lead striker role and continuing to score at will. Much of the improvement in his game was credited to the extra work he was willing to put in after training, with great help from Paul Clement on developing his movement and hold-up play.

Perhaps surprisingly, Carlo Ancelotti identified Fabio as a "very, very interesting" player early in his reign at Stamford Bridge, and in September of 2009, when faced with a first-team striker shortage, he called upon Borini, handing him a debut against Tottenham Hotspur. A first start in the number 45 shirt (apparently requested as 4+5=9) came in the League Cup against QPR and he went on to make further appearances from the bench, becoming the club's fifth choice forward.

Injuries and a contract dispute with the club hindered his first team involvement in 2010-11, despite fine goalscoring form for the Reserve side (including all five in a game against West Bromwich Albion). Shoulder surgery curtailed much of his campaign but he returned to fitness in February 2011 to score a hat-trick in a reserve fixture against West Ham United, before moving on loan to Swansea City for the remainder of the season, where he made a significant impact; scoring 6 times in 9 league appearances.

With no prospect of regular first team football at Chelsea he signed a five-year deal with Parma in February of 2011 to join the Italian side upon the expiry of his contract the following June.

After Chelsea

Fabio's first year in Italy saw him score nine goals for Roma, who took him on loan from Parma and paid €2.5m for 50% of his contract, and earn himself a regular place in the team. Roma paid close to €5m to buy the remaining 50% of his contract from Parma in June 2012, but in mid-July he was sold to Liverpool for a reported €11.3m, re-joining manager – and former Chelsea coach – Brendan Rodgers, who the Italian had played under while on loan at Swansea City. He failed to make an impact during his first season at Anfield, with two goals in 20 appearances. He was loaned to Sunderland for the 2013-14 season, and scored a late equaliser against Chelsea in a League Cup quarter final tie that the Blues ended up losing in extra time.

International

Fabio represented Italy at every level from Under-16 to Under-21, where he become a regular starter under (now former) manager Pierluigi Casiraghi. He served as Under-19 captain during 2009-10. He was handed a first Italy cap in early 2012 and was named in their squad for Euro 2012. He made no appearances in the finals but finished with a runners-up medal.

Statistics

Youth Team Football

Season	Total
	Apps	Goals
2007-08	15	5
2008-09	10	10

Reserve Team Football

Season	Total
	Apps	Goals
2007-08	1	1
2008-09	8	4
2009-10	13	5
2010-11	8	12

Senior Club Football (while at Chelsea)

Season	Club	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2009-10	Chelsea	4	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
2010-11	Chelsea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2010-11	Swansea City (loan)	9	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	12	6
	Chelsea total	4	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	8	0