Fabio Borini came to Milan to “prove I could play in Italy, that I didn’t run away” from Serie A and reveals what he’d bring from England.
Turning 28 next month, his career has always been one in flux, poached from Bologna by the Chelsea youth academy in 2007, returning to Italy with Parma and Roma before the €13.3m transfer to Liverpool in 2012 and back to Milan in 2017.
He was a striker, turned winger, turned at times full-back. So how would he describe himself as a player?
Fabio Borini came to Milan to “prove I could play in Italy, that I didn’t run away” from Serie A and reveals what he’d bring from England.
Turning 28 next month, his career has always been one in flux, poached from Bologna by the Chelsea youth academy in 2007, returning to Italy with Parma and Roma before the €13.3m transfer to Liverpool in 2012 and back to Milan in 2017.
He was a striker, turned winger, turned at times full-back. So how would he describe himself as a player?
“Anomalous. Versatile. Reserved,” was his reply to La Gazzetta dello Sport’s Sportweek magazine.
“I do things that other colleagues generally don’t do, like ride my bicycle through the centre of town. I arrived for the first team dinner like that and they all made fun of me. I even have a basket on front now…
“Being in England helped, as they don’t have all these newspapers and TV shows that create this idea of a football player being a diva. You go to the restaurant and you pay your bill like anyone else, otherwise you risk losing contact with reality.
“At times it irritates me being described as ‘generous’ on the field. I run hard and adapt to any role, but that’s not all I am capable of. I told (Milan Coach Gennaro) Gattuso that if I was to transform from striker to full-back, I wanted to work seriously in training to avoid positioning errors, such as the one that cost us a goal against Chievo.
“Another label I hate is the one they gave me at Roma, that of a troublemaker in the locker room. That is false.”
The issue of his non-stop running isn’t just down to training, though.
“My mother was a marathon runner and she still has a few marathons, even though she’ll be 55 in August. It’s genetic. My father also ran, but only 200-400m sprints. I did athletics in Bologna, from age 13 to 15, so it was two days running and three playing football.
“I got it into my head to make football a profession and was even more determined because everyone said I wouldn’t manage it.”
Borini has experienced Serie A and the Premier League in depth, so what would be take from one to the other?
“I’d bring the English mentality, even in fun, as if they have 20 minutes for a break, they’ll find a way to enjoy it. We’d just let the time run by trying to figure out what to do. I’d give to England the Italian culture of food.
“I’d absolutely make the move to Chelsea again at the age of 16. By 17 I was a self-sufficient man, I knew how to cook, clean, iron. The mentality is so different to when I was at Bologna.
“Coming to Milan, I wanted to prove that I could play in Italy, that I didn’t run away and belong at Milan. I think I’ve proved that, to a degree.”