TheSportsCampus

Liverpool fans had better get used to it, because a young Italian named Fabio Borini promises to do a lot of running down the side of the pitch at Anfield probably in the direction of the Kop pretending he has a knife between his teeth!

Borini's signature celebration which has the potential to become a cult classic at Anfield could be the theme for many seasons to come as Liverpool announced the capture of the 21-year old Italian international on a multi-year contract for a fee reported to be close to 10 million pounds.

Borini gave credit to his new manager as the reason behind him choosing Liverpool over building a career at Roma. In his first interview as a Liverpool player, the new no.29 said, "He (Rodgers) was very important. I wouldn't say it was the key, but most of it came from him. Even during last season, I spoke with him a lot. I'd text him and ask if he was okay and congratulated him on the results he got with Swansea. First of all it is a relationship of friendship and afterwards it is a working one. That is more important than anything."

Borini also expressed his excitement in bringing Rodgers' new brand of football to Liverpool, "I used to play 4-3-3 with him and he is very good to play football for. It is great to play football for him because you can have fun and you can get results. I could see at Swansea the people loved him because the football was attractive. People like to see football (played) like this."

Rodgers too expressed his delight at signing the youngster, "I was very keen to bring him here. Fabio fits the model of what we're trying to do in building not only for now, but also for the future.

"He's a big talent, 21 years of age, he scores goals, and his passion, focus and concentration is a very important part of his game - and a big part of what you want from a player."

It will be interesting to see what Borini's arrival means for existing Liverpool strikers Andy Carroll and Craig Bellamy, and how they are likely to fit into the new manager's 4-3-3 system. While Bellamy would be quite comfortable operating on either flank, chances are he could well be reunited with either former manager Mark Hughes at QPR or former club Cardiff City, who have had a massive inflow of cash.

Carroll meanwhile could be used as the central striker or targetman at the top of the tree, but not being a natural goal scorer may not work well with Luis Suarez or Borini possibly better suited to that position. That could well mean Liverpool may look to offload the player, perhaps initially on loan with an array of suitors including AC Milan, Fulham and West Ham United.