Chelsea Transfer News: Radja Nainggolan Rumours Addressed by Luciano Spalletti

AS Roma boss Luciano Spalletti believes his side will be able to keep Radja Nainggolan in spite of Chelsea's interest in him this summer but should nevertheless be prepared in case he leaves. 

According to Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia), he said: "I think Nainggolan will stay with us. But we must be ready for everything."

Per Squawka News, he elaborated on his belief the Belgian will remain in the Italian capital:

Spalletti is wise to prepare for his exit, however. Chelsea are reportedly attempting to thrash out a deal with the Giallorossi, and Nainggolan has done little to dismiss the speculation by praising incoming Blues boss Antonio Conte, per Belgian football journalist Kristof Terreur:

For all their resources, Chelsea have few quality options in midfield. After Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic—both of whom struggled to live up to their lofty standards last season—the Blues only have the unconvincing John Obi Mikel and the somewhat-untested Ruben Loftus-Cheek to call upon.

Nainggolan would provide a useful meeting point between Fabregas' creativity and Matic's ball-winning skills—essentially, he's a combative midfielder who makes things happen in the centre, and he's not afraid to shoot from distance either.

Here are some of his highlights from last year:

WhoScored.com gave a rundown of how he's fared in Serie A over the last five seasons, first with Cagliari and then with Roma:

Though he may have produced just one assist in the league last season, that's an unfair representation of the creativity he can bring. He created 42 chances, per Squawka, so if he played in a more clinical side, he'd be enjoying far more assists.

Gianluca Di Marzio's David Amoyal gave his opinion on the kind of price he believes Chelsea will have to pay in order to land the 28-year-old:

While that is a significant sum, it's hardly out of the Blues' price range for a marquee signing.

Another quality midfielder would give Conte the option of deploying all three in the centre or afford him the ability to rest and rotate his players without compromising the quality of the first XI.

He'll be harder to acquire after Miralem Pjanic's move to Juventus—Roma can ill afford to lose two of their biggest midfield stars in one transfer window—but Chelsea shouldn't give up on capturing him.