Rodgers rules out Borini loan

Liverpool’s Fabio Borini will not leave the club on a loan deal, manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed.

Since moving to Anfield from Roma in July last year, Borini has only made 20 appearances for the club and faces strong competition for a place in Rodgers’ side this season.

Daniel Sturridge has scored twice in Liverpool’s two Premier League fixtures this campaign, while last season’s top scorer Luis Suarez will return to the side soon as he nears the end of his 10-match suspension.

The likes of Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto were also brought in by Rodgers over the close-season, but the Northern Irishman still believes the 22-year-old Borini has a role to play at Anfield.

Asked if the Italian would be made available for loan, Rodgers said: “Not at this moment in time.

“There would be a queue of clubs wanting to take him if he was available. We want to keep a strong group – it’s a very long season for us.

“You’ve got Daniel (Sturridge), Fabio (Borini), (Iago) Aspas and Luis (Suarez) to come in a number of weeks. We want to make sure the competition in the group is there.”

As well as keeping Borini at the club, Rodgers also remains intent on making new signings before the transfer window shuts on September 2.

“We’ve got targets,” he continued.

“While the window is still open we’ll continue to look to improve the squad. We’ll hopefully come out of the back of it with a stronger group.

“The idea is for us to strengthen that little bit more and hopefully we can do that.”