Borini was signed by Chelsea from Bologna aged 16, with a reputation of being a natural goal scorer who could make perfect runs and finish from the tightest of angles.
With competition from the Italian mega clubs Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus; credit must be given to Arnesen in pulling this one off. He never managed a first team appearance for Bologna but his statistics at junior level were amazing. He scored 53 times in 77 appearances between the age of 12 and 17 at academy and reserve level.
Having been snapped up by Chelsea, he was introduced to the academy level at first but an injury prone first year saw him make little impact on the blues. He made only 3 starts with a goal to his name. This however did not stop him from firing the following year as the 2008/09 season proved to be the wowing year for the player.
At youth level the Italian struck 11 goals in 10 games and earned immediate promotion to the reserve side. Here too he was amazing as he played against the likes of Stoke's Amdy Faye and United's Jonny Evans to still notch up 6 goals in 10+2 games.
People were now taking notice.
The arrival of Ancelotti saw the player rise further in prominence. When asked about the Italian Ancelotti said:
"Borini is an 18-year-old from Bologna who is very, very, very interesting.'
He was included in the Champions League squad and made his debut appearance in the Premier League, in the 89th minute in the 3-0 win over Spurs, though his involvement was minimal.
He got a second chance to showcase his talents with 13 minutes in a win over Wolves. I will never forget the moment in the 91st minute when a defence splitting ball was captured amazingly by Borini who easily managed to round the keeper.
Sadly the pass had been slightly over-hit so having beaten the keeper, Borini found the angle to be too tight and hit the side netting. A glimpse of his ability!
His first start saw an impressive display against QPR and he followed up with short appearances in an FA Cup match and the game against Apoel.
He is yet to score for the first team, though with barely 150 minutes under his belt that is hardly a concern. For the reserves this year he scored 4 times in 6 starts and 2 sub appearances.
Borini's international career has been quite prolific with an amazing 11 in 23 appearances and is one of the youngest players in the U-21 side, now 19 but earning his debut aged 18.
Christened the new Shevchenko by the press, Borini's place in the squad should give blues fans great optimism about the future, given how good the original Shevchenko became under the guidance of Carlo Ancelotti.
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