AS Roma coach Luciano Spalletti has predictably responded angrily to Radja Nainggolan‘s admission that he is open to a move away from the Italian capital.
The Belgium international admitted, speaking to Il Tempo, that we would be looking to talk to Chelsea should—as rumours suggest—the Pensioners move to sign the tenacious operator.
Similarly, he also confirmed that while he wasn’t actively looking to leave Roma, he would find it very hard to ignore Barcelona should the Catalan heavyweights come a-calling for his signature.
“If Barcelona come looking for me, which player would say he’d dislike playing for the most important club in the world?” Nainggolan admitted to the Italian media. “I’d be an idiot to say such things.”
Nainggolan featured for 71 minutes on Sunday as Roma outclassed rivals Lazio 4-1 in the Italian top flight in the Rome Derby.
However, all is not well at the Stadio Olimpico, with Spalletti expressing his dissatisfaction with Nainggolan’s comments.
“There are problems,” the coach began, speaking in a press conference ahead of the match [as per Goal]. “Anyone who wants to leave, please go ahead and tell us, we’ll be satisfied with the market price.
“We don’t keep anyone against their will, in fact, we might choose to send someone away. Here we want people who fight to establish Roma firmly in the Champions League.”
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Nainggolan, who was born in Antwerp, began his youth career with Germinal Beerschot in his homeland, but has spent the entirety of his senior career in Italy.
He first established himself with Piacenza, before moving to Cagliari in 2010 and then on to Roma in 2014.