We’re just a few days away from December, where one can begin taking January transfer rumours seriously as the window approaches.
One player who has been linked with the Blues for what seems like a decade now is Radja Nainggolan. He was linked with us repeatedly when Jose Mourinho was in charge, and nothing has changed since the arrival of Antonio Conte. In fact the Serie A connection between the two has only strengthened the rumours.
Now the Daily Star are reporting that there are contract issues between the Belgian midfielder and Roma which are opening the door for a Chelsea bid.
There’s no real substance to these rumours as far as we can tell, but the links to us do make a lot more sense than those to Manchester United. There’s no doubt that Mourinho isn’t happy with many parts of his squad, but it’s hard to see him buying another expensive central midfielder to play alongside Paul Pogba until he is able to get rid of at least one of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin or Michael Carrick.
Chelsea are in a similar position, with Cesc Fabregas and Jon Obi Mikel looking set to depart. The advantage we have is that we didn’t just spend £100m+ on a player in the same position just a few months ago.