Cut price deal mooted for Borini; Two good reasons Celtic move is unlikely for Sunderland man

According to the Daily Record, Fabio Borini will be allowed to leave the Stadium of Light at the end of the season for around half the price that Sunderland paid for him in the summer of 2015.

And that is said to have alerted his former manager Brendan Rodgers to Borini's availability, with Celtic poised to swoop for the Sunderland forward.

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Except there's two very good reasons why Parkhead is an unlikely destination - Borini doesn't like Brendan much and Celtic can't afford him.

Sunderland paid around £8m to sign Fabio Borini from Liverpool two years ago with potential add-ons rising to £10m. How much of it the Black Cats have actually paid to the Anfield outfit so far is still unclear. Much of the business the club did in that summer - and since - has been conducted on extended credit terms.

The transfer link to Celtic for the player who turns 27 at the end of this month is an obvious one to make. Borini has worked with Parkhead chief Brendan Rodgers previously at Chelsea as a youngster and then the Italian had a short spell at Swansea five years ago under the former Liverpool manager before reuniting at Anfield.

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But the two endured an increasingly frosty relationship after Rodgers signed Borini for Liverpool in 2012. The forward was his manager's first acquisition upon being unveiled as boss at Anfield but the Italian quickly found his opportunities limited on Merseyside.

Borini only ever made 25 appearances for Liverpool and managed just two goals. His first season at Anfield was a frustrating one interrupted by a dislocated shoulder but he made his come back in April 2013 and scored a first goal for the club in a 6--0 victory against Newcastle.

The Magpies would become something of a favoured opponent for the Italian who has racked up a further brace of crucial goals against them since.

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Borini joined Sunderland on loan the following season and after a slow start established himself as a fan favourite on Wearside. Two goals against Newcastle during that campaign endeared him to the red-and-white faithful with a screamer at the Stadium of Light supplemented by a cool-as-you-like penalty at St James Park.

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But the Italian felt he had unfinished business at Anfield and despite the overtures from Gus Poyet to sign for Sunderland, Borini set himself to establish a place in the first team at Liverpool.

It just didn't work out and by the end of that campaign Borini would state that his relationship with Rodgers had broken down and the two men were no longer on speaking terms,

We don’t speak anymore. It’s sad. It ended badly between me and him, it’s not what I wanted.

So the lure of working with the former Liverpool manager is a dubious one to flag as a selling point for a move to Celtic.

And that doesn't come close to the barrier that would be Borini's wage demands. The forward is one of the top earners at Sunderland raking in circa £60,000 a week. He signed for the Black Cats from a position of bargaining power with the club finally landing him in its second summer of pursuit.

The top earner at Celtic is on about £25,000 a week and whilst Borini's pay will almost halve on relegation with Sunderland, he could certainly earn more elsewhere than he would in Scotland.

Fabio Borini has never lived up to his original billing at Sunderland. After that initial loan spell there was a clamour to re-sign the Italian permanently and when he finally arrived after being chased for twelve months, he should have kicked on from a position of strength as a terrace favourite.

It simply hasn't worked out that way and this season has been a dismal one for Borini fans. The player has cut a dejected disinterested figure under David Moyes and many of his performances have been lacklustre affairs during this campaign.

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The player himself has claimed he has been played out of position despite being utilised in the exact same role he generally always has been at Sunderland.

Much may be made of the manager's inability to get the best out of the Italian since Moyes took over last summer, but now nearing the end of a chapter on Wearside which promised so much, few Sunderland fans will be sorry to see the back of his dejected shoulder-drooped presence on the pitch at the Stadium of Light.

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