The PFA pre-season programme has rolled into its eighth week with a number of familiar faces all joining the training sessions in their efforts to find a new club including a striker who used to represent Liverpool and Chelsea
Former Chelsea and Liverpool striker Fabio Borini has once again linked up with a host of other players who are currently unattached as he attempts to find a new club. The Italian has been a free agent since leaving Italian side Sampdoria.
The veteran striker, 33, has joined up with the PFA for their highly commended pre-season programme that allows out-of-contract professionals to train and keep up their fitness in an effort to earn a contract elsewhere. Training takes place at Champneys Springs and has been running since the start of the summer. Other names to have taken part include former Premier League defender Paul Dummett, ex-Chelsea man Jamal Blackman and midfielder Tom Davies.
Borini will certainly hope he does enough to catch the eye of any interested clubs. The one-time Italy international started his senior career with Chelsea ahead of spells with Parma and Roma. He then returned to England with Liverpool in 2012, before moving to Sunderland. He then moved back to Italy having had spells with AC Milan and Hellas Verona.
The Italian netted 35 goals across 75 appearances for Turkish side Fatih Karagumruk ahead of a move to Sampdoria. Should he find a new club following his spell with the PFA, he would follow in the footsteps of a few other former Premier League stars.
Borini’s former AC Milan teammate Asmir Begovic was offered a contract by Championship side Leicester following his contributions. On his spell with the PFA, he said: “I think the off season is always a challenging time in certain ways. You take your rest and recover from the long season before and then start preparing for the next season. Now without always knowing the date as to when you go back and when you need to be ready for, it’s quite difficult.
“What the PFA provide, especially with the set-up they have, that makes it real easy for players to dip in and dip out and get top quality coaching. So for me it was nice to be able to tick over, spend some time with the family, play some other sports and keep busy.”
Fellow goalkeeper Angus Gunn also found a new club in Nottingham Forest having trained with the PFA following his release by Norwich City. A number of well-known faces embarked on a similar programme last year including ex-Newcastle star Dwight Gayle, and former Arsenal defender Carl Jenkinson. The programme is set to run up until September 4.