Brendan Rodgers: Fabio Borini's shoulder injury not as serious as first thought

Liverpool striker Fabio Borini was forced to leave Wednesday night's friendly against Roma after suffering a shoulder injury in the opening minutes, but after initial fears that the Italian could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines, manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed that the ailment is not serious.

"It's probably not bad as first thought; he's had problems in the past with his shoulder," Rodgers said. "He's only bruised it, so he'll miss a few days of training and he won't train for the remainder of the trip here, but it's only a matter of days until he's back training and playing again."

The 23-year-old looks unlikely to be among the regulars for the Reds this season, and the fact that the injury is not serious will provide much relief to Rodgers, who is looking to offload the player and look elsewhere for another striker to help replace the goals lost with Luis Suarez's departure to Barcelona.

Borini is the subject of a 14-million pound bid from Sunderland, with reports suggesting the two clubs have agreed on the transfer fee, and it is only the striker's desire to establish himself at Liverpool that is holding up the deal.