Thursday 28 April 2016 18:42, UK
Radja Nainggolan has earned plaudits from the likes of Patrick Vieira, but would the reported Chelsea target suit life in the Premier League?
According to reports, the Roma midfielder is set to become Antonio Conte's first signing at Chelsea, with some national newspapers claiming a deal has already been agreed for the Belgium international.
So what would Nainggolan bring to Stamford Bridge and how might he fare in England's top flight?
Factfile
Name: Radja Nainggolan
Age: 27
Former clubs: Piacenza, Cagliari, Roma
Nationality: Belgian
International caps: 18
What is his background?
Nainggolan started his professional career at Serie B side Piacenza after being scouted while playing for Belgian club Germinal Beerschot.
After four years in Serie B Nainggolan moved up to Serie A with Cagliari, who initially signed him on loan before making the deal permanent at the end of the 2009/10 season.
Nainggolan was a regular starter at Cagliari, making 131 appearances with his performances catching the eye of the Roma hierarchy who, in January 2014, signed him on a half-season loan for €3m (£2.3m) before taking up the option to purchase 50 per cent of his rights for a further €6m (£4.7m).
Nainggolan signed a permanent deal with Roma ahead of the 2014/15 season for €9m (£7m) and he has swiftly become one of the club's most important players.
On the international stage, he was surprisingly omitted from Belgium's 2014 World Cup squad but has since established himself in Marc Wilmots' side in a deeper role to where he plays at Roma, starting nine of Belgium's 10 games during their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
What is his playing style?
Nainggolan has drawn plenty of comparisons to Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal with his all-action, energetic and tenacious performances.
Combative in the challenge and an extremely efficient distributor of the ball, Nainggolan combines the role of a holding midfielder and an attacking playmaker.
This season at Roma, Nainggolan has averaged more than 1.8 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game.
He's successfully completed over 75 per cent of his 242 long passes this season and has completed more than 80 per cent of passes in the opposition half, creating 38 chances. He's scored five goals and has one assist, equalling his goal record for last season.
How highly is he rated?
Speaking last year, former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Vieira: "I like Radja Nainggolan of AS Roma. He has good ability and works hard for the team."
Roma manager Luciano Spalletti has spoken highly of Nainggolan's flexibility in recent weeks.
"Nainggolan knows how to do well in both phases [of midfield], giving him a role could limit him," he said. "He's very good when allowed to use his creativity, this is why I have used him as a trequartista multiple times."
Does he fancy a move to England?
Nainggolan has spoken of the possibility of playing abroad, but does he necessarily see his future in England?
"If Barcelona come looking for me, which player would say he'd dislike playing for the most important club in the world? I'd be an idiot to say such things."
But he has denied any interest of moving to Turin to play for Juventus, saying: "I already rejected their proposals several times.
"They wanted me and I never accepted. I just don't see myself with the Juve colors on me," he added. "I don't want to stir up controversy. I thought that even before coming to Roma."
More recently, Nainggolan has spoken positively about a move to the Premier League.
"[The Premier League] is certainly the most talked-about competition in the world," he said. "I regularly watch the games of my Belgian friends at Chelsea and Spurs, and there are a lot of world-class players."
Where would he fit in at Chelsea?
Should Chelsea adopt a 3-5-2 formation, a formation which Conte has favoured at former clubs, then Nainggolan may play a similar role as Vidal did in the Italian's successful Juventus team.
If that's the case, then his responsibility may be to push forward from deep for attacks while having a holding midfielder behind him to cover the space.
However, Conte has also been known to adopt a 4-4-2 formation, which again would likely suit Nainggolan as he has shown his capability at Roma to play a box-to-box role.
Whatever set-up Conte implements, Nainggolan's characteristics suggest he has the flexibility to play across the entire midfield line.
