Fabio Borini’s house witnessed a major disagreement over football but it was not related to his recent move to Salford City. The forward bought the property from the former Manchester United executive vice-chair Ed Woodward, who had fans at the gates showing their displeasure during his time at Old Trafford. “Because of the protest outside, everybody was worried, so I said: ‘Don’t worry I’ll buy it, get the price down,’” Borini jokes.
The former Italy international has a business mind and knows a good deal when it comes along. Joining Salford, however, was certainly not about the money. After leaving Sampdoria, where he endured a difficult final season after being ostracised, Borini wanted to play for the love of the game. He returned to his wife Erin’s native north-west, where they had their Cheshire home, and searched for work.
After time at a Professional Footballers’ Association camp for unemployed players, Borini was allowed by Salford to train there to stay in shape and a month later, on 17 October, he signed until January after an injury to one of the strikers. “I said to the club: ‘Do what you can. I’m not going to negotiate over a contract and a few hundred a year or day. It’s about playing football, it’s about you giving me the opportunity and me giving you the same opportunity to get promoted.’”
The 34-year-old has played for Chelsea, Liverpool and Milan and was an unused sub in the 2012 European Championship final, but he was the one chasing Salford, aware of their enhanced status thanks to their co-owners Gary Neville and David Beckham. Others with his reputation and CV might have waited for the calls to come. An offer from Sydney arrived but the family upheaval was deemed too much.
Borini’s friendship with Salford’s assistant coach Alex Bruce helped to open the door there. “They said: ‘You come and train, give a little bit to the group, be around the guys and help us through in a way to understand if we’re doing the right things or the wrong things and you get fit,’” Borini says. “Then an opportunity came along [to sign] and I said I want to play football. It doesn’t really matter the league or context, it’s about football. Salford is being built to be a proper football club. It’s not like they’re throwing money around for no reason … it’s football people doing a football club.”
Borini has played under some of the great Champions League-winning coaches, including Carlo Ancelotti, José Mourinho and Luis Enrique. Salford’s head coach, Karl Robinson, is Liverpudlian, like Borini’s wife.
“He’s a lot worse than my wife,” says of understanding Robinson’s accent. “He is very open to conversation, which is a clever way to approach it. I see him chatting to players all the time. He picks one or the other one and just asks a question or makes a silly joke, which is enough to break the ice from a distance – Ancelotti was doing that.”
Borini, having ticked off the Merseyside, Milan, Tyne-Wear and Rome derbies, made his debut in a Greater Manchester one, coming on in a 1-0 win over Oldham in front of 4,000 people. “The buildup to the game, the preparation and even the tension for the game is different but then once you get to the stadium, the vibration I call it, the feelings, are the same because it’s always the same game,” says Borini. “I made a joke after the game that there’s a few elbows flying off the ball here that normally don’t happen.”
Borini and his family feel at home in England’s north-west. Daughter Stella has just started school and son Lando arrived in July. Knowing the area well, Borini and his wife have offered advice to their old friend Gigi Donnarumma on moving to the area. The players spent more than two years together at San Siro and have been reunited in Manchester, at opposite ends of the pyramid.
Borini wants to play for two or three more seasons but knows he is in the twilight of his career. He is studying global football business management with the hope of becoming a sporting director or chief executive. “I like to be in charge,” he says with a smile. He has started a business, Padel 16, opening four courts at Worsley Sports Club in Salford. There are lawn bowls and a cricket club on site, too. “I did try bowls in a different club close to me, which I like; it’s not bad. Cricket? No.” Padel has become a popular pastime among footballers. Will he get Donnarumma down for a game?
“It’s difficult to lob him,” Borini says. “Very difficult to lob him, as it is difficult to score against him. But my wife has been in touch with his wife to help them out, giving him some tips on where to live – usual stuff which we always like when people did it with us. And we know how difficult it is, especially for someone like Gigi, who I know pretty well. Even if he looks like he’s a big lad, he is quite shy, he doesn’t know much English. It is difficult to move again and obviously being in the team straight away gives you less time to sort out all the other things. So my wife did all the bits, but I will invite them over for good wine. He knows that he can come to mine and eat good Italian food.”
after newsletter promotion
The road to Wembley for Salford and Borini starts at home to League One Lincoln City in the FA Cup first round on Saturday, with Borini poised for his first start after cameos in victories over Oldham and Gillingham. Borini has fond memories of reaching the League Cup final in 2014 with Sunderland, scoring the opener. Manchester City ended up winning but the strike earned Borini cult status at the Stadium of Light, enhanced by his knife in mouth celebration. He was spotted in the away end at Old Trafford this month among his adoring fans and maintains a close connection.
“Sat? No. Standing a lot,” he says of his Old Trafford trip. “It was different. It was definitely a fulfilling experience. Sometimes you have to hold your emotions a little bit because you have a lump [in your throat]. It’s been almost 10 years since I left and I saw two people wearing my shirt and they didn’t know I was coming, so that’s fantastic. It is good because you see that happening with the iconic players. You don’t expect it with me, that I’m still playing. But it was fun.”
Borini and Erin donated their wedding gifts and money earned from selling photographs of the big day to a celebrity magazine to a stem cell transplant charity, Anthony Nolan. Borini remains philanthropic, working closely with Still I Rise, which has schools for vulnerable children in seven countries and was founded by the Nobel Peace Prize nominee Nicolò Govoni. “My mum always passed me his books, explaining what he was doing, and then you get the emotional connection of doing things the right way. He slated a few bigger organisations [regarding] how they do charity, and I like his ways: he is direct, he doesn’t care who he goes against, as long as it’s honest.”
Euphoric moments such as the one at Wembley are why Borini is still going, desperate not to lose the love of the game. “I squeezed the lemon and got all the juice out,” he says of his career. “I fulfilled everything I could possibly, probably overachieved at times for what I possess because I knew and I know players that are a lot more talented than me and reach a lot less or for less time. I’m happy with what I did. You want to finish your career with no regrets and I think I’m doing that.”
