Belgium star Radja Nainggolan snubs a move to Chelsea by deciding to stay at Roma
Blues boss Antonio Conte set to redouble his attempts to lure Everton target Axel Witsel after being turned down by Belgium midfield team-mate Nainggolan, who will stay in Italy's capital
RADJA NAINGGOLAN has snubbed a move to Chelsea and decided to stay at Roma.
Blues boss Antonio Conte was desperate to land the Belgium ace and was prepared to pay £30million.
Nainggolan, 28, appears set for at least another year in the Italian capital - where his current deal expires in 2020.
The player has met Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini and says that he is happy with the outcome.
Nainggolan said: "I met with Sabatini and everything went well.
“I am staying at Roma.”
The midfielder appears to have performed a U-turn after hinting last month that he was open to the idea of working with Conte.
He previously said: “We’ve talked. He [Conte] already wanted me at Juve, but I told him that I would never go there.
“Now he’s trying to convince me to go to Chelsea and we’ve had a chat about it. He’s an interesting person. We’ll see. I don’t know.
“We’ll just have to see what happens. Certainly Conte’s a good coach -you could see that at Juve, where he won, and also at Siena.
“He’s told me what he expects of me and what type of a player I could be for him.
“It’s important to know that a coach wants you so much. I’m not a player who scores 20 goals a season and provides 20 assists, but he appreciates the silent work that I do.”
Blues could now redouble their attempts to bring Nainggolan's Belgium team-mate Axel Witsel to West London.
The pair anchored Belgium's midfield in their run to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 - going out in a 3-1 defeat to Wales as Nainggolan netted a stunning opener.
Everton want to land Witsel in a £30m deal, but Blues are rivalling them for his signature.
And with a deal for Nainggolan now dead, the Toffees could be ousted by Blues in their pursuit of Witsel.