Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan has revealed he turned down Chelsea, despite Antonio Conte being determined to take him to Stamford Bridge with him.
The midfielder has been speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, relayed by Voetbal Nieuws, about his career and where he might have ended up.
He is currently without a club after a career which saw him start in Belgium with Beerschot before moving to Italy with Piacenza and going on to enjoy spells with Cagliari, AS Roma and Inter Milan.
His best period was undoubtedly at Roma, but it was in Milan where he united with Conte, albeit in a very short relationship that saw him only make five appearances under the Italian totalling 50 minutes.
It seems the two could have had a much more fruitful relationship, though, as Conte wanted to sign him for Chelsea when he was manager there from 2016 to 2018.
“The best coach I’ve worked with. Luciano Spalletti! I also think highly of Antonio Conte. He even wanted to take me to Chelsea, but I refused.”
Whether Nainggolan ever was a target for Conte at Chelsea is now resigned to the annals of history, but it certainly wouldn’t have been surprising.
Conte showed a particular fondness for Serie A players during his time at Stamford Bridge, with Antonio Rudiger, Davide Zappacosta, Marcos Alonso and Emerson all joining under him.
Given Nainggolan was impressing at Roma at the time there’s every chance he was on a list, although we’ll have to take his word for it that it was him who said no.
