Shared Connection..................Sunderland
Tuesday, 18th Aug 2015 06:30 by Planet Swans (follow us on Twitter @swansnews)

Game three of the new season and we are here again to take a look at a shared connection that is, of course, someone who played for both clubs at some point in their career and this time we look at someone who spent time on loan at both clubs.

Fabio Borini played just 12 times for Swansea whilst on loan with us from Chelsea but it was enough for him to find the net on six occasions and help us win promotion to the Premier League.

It was 18 March 2011 when Brendan Rodgers secured the loan signing of the striker and 24 hours later he was on target as the Swans beat promotion rivals Nottingham Forest at the Liberty and he was also on target against Norwich, Burnley and Ipswich (twice) as the Swans ended the season in 3rd place in the Championship. Three play off appearances later and it was the Premier League for the Swans thanks to a Scott Sinclair hat-trick at Wembley but they were unable to grab Borini on a permanent deal as he had already agreed to join Parma where he stayed for three months before he was sold onto Roma

One year in Italy later and he was back in this country with Brendan again who by this time had moved to Liverpool but he never settled there and in September 2013 he was loaned to Sunderland for the season.

He scored 10 goals that season for the Black Cats including a goal in their Capital One Cup semi final win over Manchester United and a goal in the final against Manchester City - a game that they lost 3-1.

His 10 goals in 40 appearances that season was a good enough return but he did not want to make the move a permanent one and he returned to Anfield at the end of the season where his first team appearances are still few and far between.

I think it is fair to say that for a player who has played for six different clubs, the spells at Swansea and Sunderland are the two most successful ones of his career and he will certainly always be remembered here at Swansea for his brief time with the club and I suspect Sunderland fans remember him warmly as well.