Radja Nainggolan confirms Chelsea interest

Radja Nainggolan has confirmed Chelsea are interested in signing him, but added he is “very happy at Roma.”

Nainggolan, 28, is wanted by new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte to bolster the club’s options in midfield but he is not sold on the idea of a Premier League switch.

“They want to strengthen and moreover you have a coach like Conte who has always wanted to sign me”, Nainggolan told Belgian magazine Nina.

“There has been contact between the two clubs, but as long as there is no agreement reached, I’ll stay well out of it. Chelsea are a great team and it’s good to be appreciated by them.”

The Belgium international has spent his whole senior career in Italy playing for Piacenza, Cagliari and now Roma and he thinks it would be difficult to leave the country, even though he could link up with countrymen Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois at Stamford Bridge.

He said: “I am very happy at Roma. They appreciate what I do for the club, everyone likes me as a player and a person, so that is very important to me.

“I lead a good life here and there is a nice balance between my football and my family life. It would be a very difficult choice to leave Italy after 11 years.”