Fabio Borini - Biography

Fabio Borini was born in Bentivoglio, Italy, on March 29th 1991. Growing up, Borini was a supporter of the Bologna football team, and started playing the game himself at the age of nine.

Only one year later, he was spotted by scouts from Bologna, was joined the youth set up there. After turning 16, Borini joined English Premier League team Chelsea, where he spent the first year of his career playing within the Chelsea youth team set up under the coach at the time, Brendan Rodgers.

During his time in England, Borini played mostly reserve team football; although he did make sporadic substitute appearances for the club, including a Champions League fixture against Cypriot team APOEL. In total, Borini only played eight times for Chelsea at first team level, with a cumulative total of 32 minutes of Premier League football during four years as a Chelsea player. Borini is perhaps best remembered within English football circles for scoring five times during a Chelsea reserve team fixture against West Bromwich Albion, helping the team recover a 3-0 deficit at one point in the game to run out eventual 5-4 winners.

Owing to the lack of opportunities afforded to him at Chelsea, under notoriously demanding owner Roman Abramovich, Borini sought a move away.

The opportunity Borini needed was offered to him by a familiar face. Brendan Rodgers, now manager of Swansea City, took Borini on loan from his former club in March 2011 for the remaining two months of the season as Swansea City pushed for promotion to the Premier League.

During his time on loan at Swansea City, Borini admitted he would be leaving Chelsea in the summer as negotiations over a new contract had broken down between himself and the club. Borini further stated that he was unsure at that stage where his future would lie, but that he would not be making a decision until the conclusion of the 2010-11 season. He did however praise Rodgers, thanking him for the confidence he had shown in him and admitting he had been the reason why he had decided on a loan move to Swansea City.

On the pitch, Borini’s time at Swansea City was very much a success. Quickly taken to the hearts of the Liberty Stadium regulars, Borini scored six goals in 12 games as Swansea City secured a place in the Championship play-offs. Borini played at Wembley in the 2011 Championship play-off final, winning a penalty for Swansea City as they defeated Reading to gain promotion to the Premier League for the first time, becoming the first Welsh side to do so in the process.

Following the play-off final, it was reported that Borini had signed a pre-contract agreement to sign a five year deal with Italian club Parma. It was later revealed that this had been signed prior to the Swansea City loan move, meaning Swansea City were unable to make a subsequent bid for the player. Despite leaving the club, Rodgers stated it had been a pleasure to work with Borini again and would be delighted to welcome him back to the club in the future.

After joining Parma, he was sent on loan to Roma before having made his debut. Roma have an option to make the loan deal permanent, meaning Parma stand to make a tidy profit from a player they signed for free, despite him never having played competitive football for the club.

Borini has represented Italy at Under 16, Under 17, Under 19, and Under 21 level. He is a current Under 21 international, and currently has 14 caps to his name, scoring three goals.