Brendan Rodgers: Fabio Borini's Bruised Shoulder 'Not As Bad As First Thought'

Fabio Borini shoulder injury Liverpool Roma BOSTON — Brendan Rodgers doesn’t want any of his players injuring themselves, especially those who might earn Liverpool a cash windfall in the near future.

Yet, it happened Wednesday at Boston’s Fenway Park when Fabio Borini suffered an apparent right shoulder injury early in his team’s 1-0 loss to AS Roma.

Borini fell awkwardly in the ninth minute of the contest and headed for the dressing room three minutes later. Emre Can replaced Borini in Liverpool’s lineup, amid fears that the injury might be serious enough to jeopardize the Italian striker’s potential £14 million ($24 million) transfer to Sunderland.

In his postgame press conference, Rodgers said Borini’s injury wasn’t serious and that he left the game as a precautionary measure.

“It’s probably not as bad as first thought,” Rodgers said. “He’s only bruised it. He’ll miss a few days of training — he won’t train for the remainder of the trip here (in Boston) — but it will only be a matter of days before he’s back training and playing again.”

Rodgers then addressed speculation surrounding Borini’s immediate future. Liverpool accepted Sunderland’s bid Friday, and Borini is considering moving to the club with which he spent last season on loan.

“With regards to his future, we’ll see,” Rodgers continued. “He’s a Liverpool player, we had a substantial bid from another Premier League club. At this moment in time that’s something he’s thinking about with his representatives. In the meantime he’s training hard to get fit for Liverpool.”

Borini suffered a dislocated shoulder in February 2013, which sidelined him for two months.

Borini, 23, likely will undergo a scan to determine if the injury is more serious than first thought.