The 24-year-old Italian was expected to head for Wearside to undergo a medical with a four-year contract on the table. A successful completion would end the lengthy pursuit of a player who had a key role in Sunderland’s run to the 2014 Capital One Cup final, in which he scored the opening goal, and their remarkable escape from Premier League relegation at the end of the same season.
The former head coach Gus Poyet made Borini his No1 target last summer but was unable to persuade him to leave as he sought to establish himself at Anfield.
Borini has been unable to force his way into Brendan Rodgers’ plans. He made only 18 appearances last season, is yet to figure this campaign and has been linked with several clubs this summer, some of them in Italy.
Speculation has mounted that Watford could tempt Borini to Vicarage Road but Sunderland, who collected their second league point of a testing start to the season in a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa on Saturday, hope to beat them to the punch with a deal understood to be worth around £60,000 a week to the player.
Borini’s capture would further Dick Advocaat, who has been urging the club’s owner, Ellis Short, and the sporting director, Lee Congerton, to deliver the five or six “quality” signings he believes are vital if the club are to avoid yet another scrap for top-flight survival.
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