Chelsea will consider other midfield targets after Roma turned down a third bid for Radja Nainggolan, according to the Evening Standard.
The Belgium international was one of Antonio Conte’s prime targets this summer, but he has previously hinted he would be happy to stay in Serie A.
Now that Roma have rejected the latest Blues bid, which was in excess of £27million, Chelsea are close to giving up and may well consider what other options they have.
N’golo Kante of Leicester City is another similar target, and as he is expected to leave the King Power, signing him may be a far easier process than it has been with Nainggolan.
Chelsea would only have to pay £20million to trigger the release clause in Kante’s contract, so he would also be a cheaper option.
Both targets raise serious questions about the futures of Chelsea’s current midfielders, and this could finally spell the end of Nemanja Matic’s time in west London as he has been linked with Manchester United.
Nainggolan would have been an excellent signing, as one of Europe’s best box-to-box midfielders, but as Chelsea are yet to sign anyone in this transfer window, they need to forget about him and move on.
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