Dynamic midfielder who would have been ideal fit ‘could have gone’ to Chelsea
A reflective Radja Nainggolan has confirmed Chelsea tried to sign him earlier in his career, in what would have been an exciting transfer for the Blues.
Nainggolan spent his entire club career in Italy before heading to his native Belgium to sign for Royal Antwerp this summer. Formerly of Piacenza, Cagliari and Inter Milan, arguably the best spell of his career came with Roma.
He spent four-and-a-half seasons in the Italian capital, making more than 200 appearances. Throughout his time there, links with a transfer to the Premier League were never far behind.
His dynamic approach and goalscoring ability made him appear to be a perfect fit for the Premier League. However, he never accepted such an opportunity.
But it could have been different, since the 33-year-old has now confirmed he could have joined Chelsea – but money was not a motivating factor.
He told OCW Sport (via Sport Witness): “We [Roma] reached the semi-final of the Champions League, at the end of a great season [2017-18]. I was convinced to stay, but for the club it was not the same thing. I go on vacation and from nowhere I get calls from Turkey, from all over the world.
“Roma had given the mandate to certain agents to represent the company in the negotiations, also taking out my agent. At that point I decided where to go and I chose Inter to follow Luciano Spalletti.
Nainggolan ‘could have gone to Chelsea’
“If I was thinking about money, I would have had a very different career, but I never cared about money. I could have gone to Juventus after Cagliari and also after Roma, just as I could have gone to Chelsea.
“I said I would never go to Juve, but not because I hate the Juventus team, as someone wrote on social media, but simply because I like to win against the strongest.
“In those years the strongest team was Juve and I wanted to play against them. That was my challenge. Going to Juve, playing five games and winning everything was not winning for me.”
Perhaps he would have had similar feelings about Chelsea, who won the Premier League in 2017 and then went up against Nainggolan’s Roma in the group stage of the following season’s Champions League.
Ultimately, Chelsea have not won the Premier League since. Adding someone like Nainggolan to their successful squad could have made their success more sustained.
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Abramovich aims to appoint new Chelsea director
Chelsea have still been successful in the transfer market in general in recent years. Although there will be the occasional miss like Nainggolan, they do end up signing many of their targets for big money.
To further help in the transfer market, though, Roman Abramovich is considering making a new appointment on the boardroom.
Abramovich has overseen a fantastic period of success since he took Chelsea over in June 2003. In fact, no English club has won more major trophies than the Blues since his arrival.
Chelsea have won five Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues – among other silverware – under Abramovich’s ownership. What’s more, they added their first Club World Cup title on Saturday by beating Palmeiras.
As a result, Sport has claimed that the club chief wants to ensure continued success by adding Ramon Planes to his backroom team. The 54-year-old is currently out of work following his exit from Barcelona in November last year.
However, he made his name as a director at the La Liga club by finding several young talents who now feature in Barcelona’s first team.
Indeed, Planes discovered the likes of midfield duo Gavi and Pedri. The pair, 17 and 19 respectively, are already firmly in head coach Xavi’s Barcelona plan.
Planes also helped bring Uruguayan centre-back Ronald Araujo to Barca. The 22-year-old is also a staple in the team and reportedly has transfer interest from Chelsea and Manchester United.
Sport adds that Planes will ‘almost certainly’ continue his career outside of Spain.
But while Chelsea want to bring him to Stamford Bridge, another English club has also met with him to propose him a role in their project. The report does not name the club but insists that Chelsea have competition to land Planes.
Furthermore, Valencia are also planning a bid to keep the director in La Liga. In any case, Sport concludes that Planes will make a final decision in March and continue his career.
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