Fabio Borini has joined Sunderland, the club have confirmed.

Borini has put pen to paper on a four-year deal with the Wearside club after completing a medical earlier today.

It was reported this morning, by a number of publications, that Sunderland had reached an agreement with Liverpool on an £8 million deal, with an extra £2 million worth of add-ons included, however, it is instead a £7 million transfer fee that Dick Advocaat has managed to snap up the Italian for.

Sunderland fight off competition for Borini signature

Despite Borini having enjoyed a successful spell on Wearside in the 2013-14 season, which provoked the club to pursue him in last summer's transfer window, Sunderland have not been the favourites to sign the striker throughout the summer.

The 24-year-old was expected to return home to play in Serie A, with both Internazionale and Fiorentina keen on securing his services. The former were understood to have lodged a bid of £6 million, but they failed to reach an agreement with Liverpool which led to the deal collapsing.

Watford, also of the Premier League, were believed to be interested in Borini too, however, Sunderland have managed to fight off the competition and the Italian will return to the Stadium of Light instead.

Change of formation for the Black Cats? Or more signings to come?

Advocaat's rumoured attacking targets this summer have primarily been towering target men, one of whom the manager believes he needs in order to deploy his side in his favoured 4-3-3 set-up.

The Dutchman has expressed his belief that Jermain Defoe cannot operate as the focal point of a front three, as he lacks the height and build to do so, which is why the likes of Adrian Ramos and Sébastien Haller have both been linked with moves to Sunderland.

However, the arrival of Borini could signal that Advocaat is ready to give up on his desire to operate in this formation, with a 4-4-2 perhaps the more likely now, or it could suggest that the manager is not done with his transfer business going forward, and that another, towering attacker may be on his way too.