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Chelsea spent a lot of time and effort pursuing midfield Radja Nainggolan two years ago, and spent a bit less time and effort pursuing him again last summer. If that trend holds, we should spent almost no time and effort at all on pursuing him this year, especially since he’s not going anywhere.
“My focus is Roma.
“People seem to have written something about me every day for the past 10 years, but I’m still in here. Let them talk. I have a very good life here. I have everything I need. My family live well here, so everything is on a good level for me.
”Chelsea? Yes, that was something. It wasn’t done, but they were interested in me. Last season, when they won the Premier League, it was the beginning of that season. But at the end of the day, the choice wasn’t that difficult for me.
”I like English football, I love to watch the English games too, but I’m almost 30 now. Starting over again? It’s difficult even to think about that. And I hate the rain. We were in Liverpool two days and it didn’t stop raining. It was cold too. You see the difference to here?”
Rome is the Eternal City, and Ninja’s love for it is just about eternal as well. He will turn 30 in a couple days and it sounds like he will stay as long as he possibly can.
“I didn’t stay here because I knew we’d get to the Champions League semi-final, but because I feel that winning here would be unforgettable.
“That’s the way I am – I always prefer to go for the tougher route. I’ll be here for years to come. I don’t like the idea of leaving a place where I’m happy – that’s just the way I am.”
-Radja Nainggolan; source: Goal
Roma certainly made it tough on themselves once again, bringing a 3-goal deficit back to Rome against Liverpool. But they were here before once already, in the previous round, and they came back to eliminate Barcelona.
Can they do it again? Kick-off is in just a few minutes.