FORMER Chelsea and Liverpool star Fabio Borini has made a shock return to English football with Salford City.
The Italian striker, who also played for Sunderland, has been snapped up by Gary Neville and David Beckham’s League Two outfit on a free transfer.
Borini, 34, had been on the hunt for a new club after leaving Serie B side Sampdoria in July.
He spent the summer training with a PFA squad of unattached players including ex-Newcastle defender Ciaran Clark and Scotland goalie Angus Gunn.
Borini then linked up with Salford a month ago to build up his fitness the first team.
And after impressing at training, the veteran forward has now been handed a short-term deal.
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Salford confirmed in a statement: “Salford City is pleased to announce the signing of Fabio Borini on a short team deal.
“The Italian striker has been training with the men’s first team for fitness over the past month, and is available for the weekend.”
Borini could now make his debut in tomorrow’s early kick-off against Oldham, with Salford currently ninth in the table and on a run of three successive league defeats.
The Italian first moved to England in 2007 when he joined Chelsea’s academy from Bologna aged 16.
Borini made his senior debut two years later, going on to play eight times without scoring in the 2009/10 title-winning campaign under Carlo Ancelotti.
But those proved to be the only appearances of his Chelsea career, with Borini then spending time on loan at Swansea and Roma before joining Liverpool permanently in 2012.
He ended up scoring three goals in 38 games for the Reds.
However, it was a loan spell at Sunderland in the 2013/14 campaign where Borini enjoyed his best season in England.
He became a fan favourite when he fired the Black Cats to the 2014 League Cup final, scoring the opener against Man City before his side were beaten 3-1.
Borini then scored the winner in a 2-1 win at Chelsea to inflict Jose Mourinho’s first-ever league defeat at Stamford Bridge.
And he later netted in a win over West Brom that saved Sunderland from promotion.
After spending the following year back at Liverpool, Borini returned to the Stadium of Light on a permanent deal and scored 17 goals in 93 games.
He then secured a stunning move to AC Milan, where he scored eight times in 75 games.
Spells at Italian side Hellas Verona and Turkish outfit Fatih Karagumruk followed, with Borini spending the last two years in Italy’s second tier with fallen giants Sampdoria.
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He only ever made one appearance for Italy though, playing in a 2012 friendly against the USA.
Borini was also included in Italy’s 2016 Euros training before being cut from the squad on the eve of the tournament.
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