Roma turn down Chelsea’s £23m bid for Radja Nainggolan

Roma have rejected Chelsea’s bid of £23m plus performance-related bonuses for the midfielder Radja Nainggolan. Antonio Conte has made the 28-year-old Belgium international his top priority this summer but Roma are reluctant to lose one of their best players.

The Roma president, James Pallotta, wants at least £32m for Nainggolan but said this week that most of all he would like to keep both the Belgian and Roma’s other in-demand midfielder, Miralem Pjanic.

“I have already said that we will not sell Pjanic and Nainggolan,” Pallotta told Gazzetta dello Sport after the 3-0 win against Chievo at the weekend. “I would like to see them continue playing for Roma.”

Conte is also keen to explore the possibility of bringing the Roma centre-back Kostas Manolas to Stamford Bridge. The Greek international, whose contract has three years to run, was close to joining Chelsea in 2015 but Roma pulled out of the deal as they could not find a replacement for him.