It’s four in four in Serie A for Marco Borriello. Are West Ham regretting letting the Italian veteran leave without truly announcing himself?
West Ham United have quite the history of talismanic centre-forwards, from Paolo Di Canio to Carlos Tevez, Jermaine Defoe to Dean Ashton.
They have also had their fair share of not so talismanic centre-forwards, from Mido to Benni McCarthy, Frederic Piquionne to Mido.
Now, while wily Italian hitman Marco Borriello certainly isn’t rubbing shoulders with England internationals and his rather madcap countryman in the former category, to don him with the dunce’s hat and place him next to Modibo Maiga at the back of the classroom seems rather unfair.
He may be one of the more forgettable signings in an action-packed half-decade at Upton Park, but Borriello can take some comfort in knowing it was a troublesome calf strain rather than any transitional difficulties that cut short his six-month spell in English football.
Yet, that barren loan spell remains the 34-year-old’s only stint outside his homeland in a career comprising three periods at Milan, a season at Juventus (below), and a 17-goal campaign at Roma.
Like Luca Toni and Antonio Di Natale before him, however, Borriello is growing old gracefully in the familiar surrounds of Serie A. His double in Bologna’s 3-0 win against Atalanta on Sunday afternoon, featuring an ingenious first-time flick and a swerving free-kick, made it four in four for the veteran who, like so many of his countrymen, is proving that age is but a number.
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