Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan has officially broken his silence over his much-speculated transfer to English Premier League leaders Chelsea.
The Belgian defensive midfielder has insisted that he has no plans on changing clubs, ruling out a move to England in the January transfer window.
While speaking to Fan Magazine, the Belgium international Nainggolan said, “I’d rather stay at Roma until the end of the season. There are no reasons to leave at the moment.” he added.
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Nainggolan was reportedly wanted by Blues boss Antonio Conte in the summer itself but a move did not materialise and the player ended up staying with Roma in the Serie A. The 28-year-old was once again heavily linked with the London club shortly after it became clear that Brazilian midfielder, Oscar, had secured a multi-million pound move to Chinese club Shanghai SIPG.
Rumours suggested that Conte wanted Nainggolan to fill in the vacant slot left by Oscar especially considering Chelsea are short of a midfielder for the second half of the season. But the Belgian has said that he wants to see out the remainder of the season with Roma and is focused on the Roman club’s Serie A challenge.
Nainggolan was part of the Belgium squad that reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 last summer in France only to be knocked out by underdogs Wales. The Belgian even managed to score two cracking goals to help his side reach the last 8 of the competition.
The Belgian’s season so far
This season Nainggolan has performed well enough again, delivering for his longstanding club Roma. His average WhoScored rating is 7.12, while he has gone on to notch up 4 goals(3 in Serie A and 1 in the UEFA Europa League) while also racking up 2 assists ( 1 in each competition).
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His average tackles per game is at 1.9 and he averages 0.7 interceptions, 0.9 clearances and 0.1 blocks per game.
The 28-year-old could decide to seek a transfer to England in the summer after the end of this season, as he hasn’t ruled it out, but at the moment he is staying put in Rome.
(Video Courtesy: Legionario Decimo YouTube Channel)
