If we didn’t know better, we’d suggest that the Fountain of Youth was probably located somewhere in Turkey. Of the top ten goalscorers currently plying their trade in the Super Lig, eight are aged 29 or over.
Former West Ham United and Everton striker Enner Valencia has been so prolific at Fenerbahce that Barcelona came calling in January. Cenk Tosun, Michy Batshuayi and Mbaye Diagne, meanwhile, are all putting disappointing spells in the Premier League behind them.
And the remarkable form of 31-year-old Fabio Borini is proof that, yes, old dogs can learn new tricks. The former Liverpool, AC Milan and Chelsea forward had never before hit double figures in a league campaign. Well, until this season, that is.
Under compatriot Andrea Pirlo at Fatih Karagumruk, Borini is entering uncharted territory.
With 14 goals and eight assists from just 21 games, this is already his most productive campaign ever. And we’re not even past February.
Fabio Borini is in in the form of his life
So, when Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Istanbul Basaksehir came calling a couple of weeks, World Cup winner and former Juventus playmaker Pirlo wasted no time in making it clear that his top scorer was going nowhere (Sport Italia).
“We do not want to see Borini in another shirt. He is a very important player,” Pirlo tells Cumhuriyet. “We want to see Borini stay with us for the rest of the season.”
With Fatih Karagumruk chasing a top-half finish, you see why Pirlo was so determined to retain his one-time Anfield benchwarmer. Borini, according to i News, was hoping to secure a return to England with Sunderland last summer. And, after that failed to materialise, he has only grown in importance at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, even captaining his side in recent weeks.
The irony, of course, is that Sunderland could do with Borini right about now. Tony Mowbray’s side are fifth in the Championship; strengthening their grip on the play-offs with a 3-0 thumping of QPR in midweek. But the loss of star man Ross Stewart leaves 20-year-old loanee Joe Gelhardt as Sunderland’s only senior centre-forward.
Though if Borini still harbours hopes of another spell in England, he is doing his chances no harm at all with a run of form few would have seen coming.
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