Roma manager Luciano Spalletti to block sale of midfielder to Chelsea — report

It would appear that Chelsea's (supposed) pursuit of AS Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan has hit yet another road block, this time in the form of AS Roma manager Luciano Spalletti.

Gazzetta dello Sport's English edition is reporting that Spalletti ain't no fool and he's "not keen" on losing the player who makes his midfield tick, especially since the only real backup for Nainggolan is Kevin Strootman who's only recently returned after missing over a year with back-to-back knee surgeries.  Fortunately for Spalletti, his desires seem to mesh with AS Roma director Baldissoni's words, who recently declared that basically Roma are not a selling club and everybody who's interested in their players — and Chelsea have been linked with just about everybody decent at the Giallorossi — can go away kindly.

The idea of Chelsea going after the €40m+ rated Nainggolan is certainly pleasing and the 27-year-old is someone whom we could desperately use to improve our midfield.  But I'm not really liking the way the wind's blowing lately on this one.  Where once I was hopeful, now I'm mostly just hoping Conte and Abramovich's moneys can sway some decent midfielder's mind to come to Chelsea and help us return the club to a top four finish.