Roma president James Pallotta recently came out with some strong purposeful words about his club keeping Radja Nainggolan but as the rumors continue swirling, he needs to keep reiterating them. The latest, from Gazzetta dello Sport doesn't have direct quotes, but does claim that Pallotta is willing to basically build a wall between Chelsea and Nainggolan.
What's he going to build this wall from? Money of course!
Miralem Pjanic is on the verge of completing his switch to Juventus who have activated his buyout clause, and that cash injection of £30m or so should enable Roma not only to pass FFP regulations but reward Nainggolan with a new contract, which Pallotta believes is all that the Belgian midfielder is actually looking for. All the coy talk about Chelsea is just to engineer this raise, which would also come with a €50m buyout clause.
That clause is certainly low enough for Chelsea to still hit if we want, but it would put the ball firmly in Nainggolan's court, who has repeatedly stated his desire to stay in Rome. So even as Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois whisper in his ears to try convince him to join, "Ninja" could simply be levering all this into a nice payday at Roma.