Fabio Borini to Birmingham City: Is it a good potential move? Would he start? What does he offer? | OneFootball

Birmingham City have been linked with a surprise move for former Liverpool forward Fabio Borini, according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.

Borini, who is now 31 years old, was a team-mate of Craig Gardner at Sunderland during the Black Cats’ 2013-14 campaign in the Premier League, and now the latter is technical director at the Blues he has reportedly registered the club’s interest in the Italian.

Having departed England for A.C. Milan in 2017 following Sunderland’s relegation to the Championship, Borini currently finds himself at Karagumruk in Turkey, where he scored nine Super Lig goals in 20 outings last season.

Borini is under contract for another season there but would a switch to St. Andrews be a good one?

You have to weigh up what kind of level Borini has been playing at and Turkey’s top flight has a lot of good players on show, and having scored against very good sides like Besiktas and Galatasaray, Borini must be doing something right.

According to transfermarkt, Borini played the majority of his games last season on the left wing, but also appeared as a striker which shows he has quite a bit of versatility still in his 30’s.

Strikers aren’t something that Birmingham are really short of – Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Jonathan Leko, Chuks Aneke and Sam Cosgrove will be battling for places but the wings are somewhere where strengthening may be needed.

Ivan Sanchez and Jeremie Bela have been joined by Jordan Graham this summer but one more player is potentially of importance and Borini could fit that role, especially if Lee Bowyer is planning to go with a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 formation.

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Bowyer tested out a number of systems when he arrived at the Blues as manager back in March and if Borini is a serious target then it suggests that a 3-5-2 may be abandoned due to all the attacking talent he will have at his disposal.

Borini wouldn’t be a guaranteed starter by any means at St. Andrews either – he would have to prove himself first as Bowyer has already seen Bela and Sanchez play, whilst he will get a good look at Graham in the pre-season friendlies which are coming up against Barrow, Cheltenham and Oxford.

To sum it up, Borini would be a good signing for Birmingham if they can get a deal done, but if I was them I would not overpay on the Italian’s wages given that they already have a lot of options going forward.