Crystal Palace Opinion: Why the Eagles should stay away from Fabio Borini?

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are interested in signing AC Milan striker Fabio Borini.

The one-cap Italy international, 28, is not in new AC Milan manager Marco Giampaolo’s plans and as a result has been transfer listed by the club. He could cost in the region of €15 million.

Newly-promoted Aston Villa have already made up to five summer signings so far and are keen to offer Borini a fresh start in England’s top flight. However, they’ll face competition from Crystal Palace, who are understood to be the frontrunners for his signature at the moment, the report adds.

The Eagles struggled to score goals this past term, with none of their strikers proving their worth. It was Michy Batshuayi who made significant contributions after arriving on loan from Chelsea during the January transfer window. But the Belgian has returned back to the Chelsea, leaving Roy Hodgson with the headache of solving his team’s goalscoring conundrum.

Hodgson’s side have already sold Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United last month and also face the prospect of losing Wilfried Zaha this summer. Zaha is arguably the club’s most important player and his exit would be a massive loss, given how single-handedly he has bailed the team out on numerous occasions.

So, keeping hold of the Ivory Coast international and signing a prolific goalscorer to complement him should be Hodgson’s priority. With that in mind, Palace’s interest in Borini is puzzling.

The Italian is hard-working, energetic and versatile, which should make him a handy squad player but Palace need a prolific goalscorer that can guarantee 15-20 goals a season. Borini has never been a prolific goalscorer in his career; he has scored only eight goals in the last two seasons at AC Milan and never set the world alight during his time with Sunderland or Liverpool in the Premier League.

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Crystal Palace need firepower, someone who can take the attack by the scruff of the neck and find the back of the net regularly throughout the season. Hodgson cannot commit a blunder by adding a forward that’ll not improve Palace and help the club challenge for a top-half finish.

Verdict

There is absolutely nothing in Borini’s past to suggest he is the man to cure the Eagles’ goalscoring woes. Thus, Hodgson and co. should stay as far as they can from the only one-cap Italy international.