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Fabio Borini has revealed he was prepared to take legal action against his former club Sampdoria, alleging that the Italian side forced him to train alone and denied him meals when he fell out of favour.
The former Liverpool striker has returned to England, causing quite a stir by joining League Two side Salford City. He says he's now recovering after a challenging period in his native Italy.
Borini has had stints with several Italian clubs, including Roma and AC Milan, but it was his recent spell at Sampdoria where he faced significant difficulties. The 34-year-old netted nine goals in an otherwise impressive debut season, only to find himself sidelined following changes behind the scenes.
Accused of being a disruptive presence in the dressing room - a claim he refutes - Borini was ready to take on the club legally over his treatment.
Speaking to The Times, Borini said: "People close to me know how difficult it was because it was a very a strict position taken by the director before even meeting me.
"He decided that I wasn't right, I wasn't this, I wasn't that, I was a problem in the dressing room, when in reality, I was the dressing room.
"I was keeping them together in the hard times because it's my experience that brings me to do that and I can do the same here. I was ready to sue the club. I had every paper to sue the club because they can't make me train on my own different times, no food, no involvement with the team, all these little things.
"So I was very, very, very troubled. I spoke with a friend of mine that was in Sampdoria and lived the same situation and he said, 'I'm feeling like I'm healing by being away'. And I texted him yesterday, and said, 'I'm starting to feel those feelings again.' Because it's a long process."
Borini acknowledges that his time at Salford has already breathed fresh life into his career, though his choice to join the League Two outfit, part-owned by Gary Neville and David Beckham, wasn't driven by financial considerations.
Whilst the club have been amongst the division's more substantial spenders, they've remained in the fourth tier since earning promotion in 2019.
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He reached out to mate Alex Bruce, who serves as assistant to Karl Robinson at Salford, and following a training period with the club, he committed to a return to the north west of England, where he also maintains business ventures.
"It doesn't really matter the league or context, it's about football," he said. "Salford is being built to be a proper football club. It's not like they're throwing money around for no reason, it's football people running a football club."
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