Liverpool transfers: Brendan Rodgers explains Fabio Borini loan

Brendan Rodgers says he has great faith in Fabio Borini despite sending the Italian striker on a season-long loan to Sunderland.

The 22-year-old Italy international has made an underwhelming start to his Liverpool career following a £10.5m move to the Merseyside outfit from Roma last summer.

Borini, who was the first signing of Rodgers’ reign, suffered a broken foot and a dislocated shoulder in the 2012/13 campaign, scoring two goals in 20 appearances.

The striker’s switch to Sunderland represents a chance to get regular first-team football under his belt, and Rodgers hopes Borini can showcase his talent at the Black Cats.

“It’s just to get games. He had a stop-start season last year with his injuries and I just felt this year he needed to go and play football,” Rodgers told Liverpool’s website.

“With Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez, Iago Aspas and some of the other attacking players, that might have been limited.

“I have a real belief in Fabio – he is a talent and we’ve seen that on occasions, but he needs to be playing regularly to demonstrate that talent.

“We had a host of clubs wanting to take him, but with Sunderland having the Italian connection there and being a big club where he can go and play, I’m sure he’ll get the chance to shine and we’ll look closely at his development this year.”