Former Sunderland favourite Fabio Borini is currently without a club.
Former Sunderland and Liverpool forward Fabio Borini has opened up on the mental struggles of being a free agent as he continues his hunt for a new club ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Now 34, the Italian has been unattached since leaving Serie B outfit Sampdoria at the end of last season, and is currently taking part in a PFA camp designed to help professionals searching for their next team to gain as much of a pre-season as possible.
Borini established himself as something of a cult figure over the course of two stints with Sunderland, scoring 17 goals and assisting five more across 93 appearances in all competitions, and while he has expressed his gratitude to the PFA for providing him with the chance to take part in their pre-season initiative, he has also outlined how difficult it can be for players when they fall out of the training routine associated with being part of a more orthodox squad set-up.
What has ex-Sunderland forward Fabio Borini said about being a free agent?
Speaking to the PFA about their camp, he said: “It's great. It's helpful. I find it helpful. I find it suitable for players like myself in this situation, out of contract, with the need of training and with the need of the football side of the game. Because, yes, you can train on your own as much as you want, but you need to be with the boys and play and passing the ball, tackling, shouting and all the parts of the game.
“I have to say thank you to the PFA for this opportunity, because mentally it gets hard when you train, like myself, for five weeks on your own, day in, day out. Even if it's with your personal trainer or in the best facility in the world, it's still hard. Because we used to be around people, it's a team game and this is where you want to be. So it's a great set-up and to be fair I didn't expect it to be as good with recovery, with the football pitch, the level of the players as well, it's great. And I will definitely use this and suggest this to other players in the same situation.”
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He continued: “You tick the boxes. Here you tick every box - with the ball, without the ball. I already ticked my boxes physically at home and here I'm getting to tick all the other boxes, which is great. You don't have to explain when someone asks you physically, you can ask the PFA and get all the data, which is great and they can see for themselves instead of you telling a side of a story, which people might not believe. Even if you say I train every day, run 10k every day, they might not believe it. So football is what it is now and this is a great opportunity for the club and for players to use.
“Mentally it's the toughest part of this period. I've been like this [a free agent] for five months in the past, through Covid, which is obviously different circumstances because nobody knew. So I know a little bit how to deal with it, but it's still hard. I'm quite resilient and even though I find it hard and try to obviously hide it, my family knows it. I'm quite open about it, we spoke about it, I've gone through it with them. So that helps, and being around people, being around players, is obviously what you need and what makes it easier because being on your own, you can push yourself, but you know you're on your own. Football, as I said, is a team sport and being on your own is lonely.”
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