SUNDERLAND have opened talks with Liverpool about a season-long loan for striker Fabio Borini, but their hopes of signing Adnan Januzaj have suffered a blow after Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal insisted the winger was “not for sale”.
The Black Cats’ approach for Borini represents a significant U-turn after the club spent most of the summer strongly denying an interest in the Italian, who became something of a cult hero after spending the 2013-14 season at the Stadium of Light and playing a pivotal role in the club’s run to the Capital One Cup final.
Gus Poyet made a series of unsuccessful attempts to sign the 24-year-old on a permanent basis last summer, but Borini effectively snubbed Sunderland’s advances despite Liverpool accepting a £14m offer.
The striker opted to remain at Anfield in the hope of forcing his way into Brendan Rodgers’ plans, but only made five senior starts in the whole of last season, a record that persuaded him to look elsewhere for first-team football this summer despite having two years of his current contract remaining.
Sunderland’s recruitment team had initially been reluctant to make a renewed approach after last year’s saga dominated most of the close season, but their position shifted earlier this week when Adam Johnson was ruled out for at least two months with a shoulder injury.
An initial inquiry to senior Liverpool officials was met with a positive response, despite Italian side Fiorentina having already held a series of talks about taking Borini back to Serie A.
On Tuesday, Fiorentina sporting director Daniele Prade said, “Borini is an option which is still open”, and the forward is understood to be keen on a return to Italy in the hope of forcing his way back into the international picture.
However, Sunderland are offering a more lucrative financial package than Fiorentina, and as things stand, sources on Merseyside claim the Liverpool hierarchy would rather do business with the Black Cats.
They would, however, demand that any loan arrangement include a clause for a permanent deal at the end of the season, something that could prove problematic unless Sunderland can negotiate a get-out clause of their own to cover a range of possible scenarios. The ongoing disagreement with Inter Milan over the status of Ricardo Alvarez has made the Black Cats extremely cautious about signing up to loan deals that automatically tie them in to a permanent transfer.
Further talks are planned for later today, with Borini potentially offering the kind of attacking versatility Dick Advocaat is looking for as he attempts to stick with the 4-3-3 formation that proved so successful at the end of last season.
The former loanee, who scored ten goals in 40 appearances during his previous spell at the Stadium of Light, is equally comfortable playing as a central attacker or as a more floating forward cutting in from the left-hand side.
His arrival would provide a timely boost in the wake of last weekend’s dispiriting opening-weekend defeat to Leicester, with Sunderland’s hopes of signing Januzaj having suffered a setback in the last 24 hours.
Sunderland sporting director Lee Congerton has been discussing Januzaj’s position with Manchester United officials for a number of weeks now, but a proposed season-long loan deal has been put on ice while the Old Trafford club have attempted to sign Pedro from Barcelona.
That deal continues to hang in the balance, with Manchester City having emerged as potential rivals for the Spain international, and with Turkish club Fenerbahce also having been linked with a possible move for Januzaj, van Gaal yesterday played down talk of the Belgian winger leaving Old Trafford.
“He is doing his utmost best (to force his way back into the team),” said the Manchester United boss. “All the players are. I have no complaints – he is not for sale.”
That does not necessarily rule out a loan move of course, but Januzaj took to social media yesterday to apparently distance himself from the speculation linking him with a departure from Manchester.
The 20-year-old tweeted the word “rumours” along with an emoji of a face with tears, and sources close to Old Trafford claim he remains keen to remain with the Manchester United squad in an attempt to force his way back into van Gaal’s first-team plans.
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