Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan has confirmed he held talks with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte about a possible move to England last summer.
Nainggolan emerged as one of Conte’s top transfer targets when he became Chelsea manager after Euro 2016 but the Premier League leaders failed to get a deal over the line.
The Belgium international eventually ended up signing a new deal with Roma in October that runs until 2020 and the 28-year-old has confirmed there were talks with the Blues before that.
“I watch it a lot,” he told Sky Sports when asked about the Premier League, via Football Italia. “A lot of my teammates play there. It’s the best league in the world.
“We have to make choices in life. I am having a good season. When the window opens we will talk about it again. Yes. I talked to him [Conte]. They were really interested and wanted me over there. That’s all I can say.”
Nainggolan has been in immense form for Roma this season and has arguably been one of the best players in Serie A since the turn of the year. In fact, of players that have played at leas 10 Serie A games in 2017, only four have garnered a higher WhoScored rating than Nainggolan (7.74).
In fact, the Belgium international is having his most prolific campaign to date, having already scored three more league goals this season than in any other previous campaign in his career (9).
For more stats on Radja Nainggolan, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
