Roma boss Luciano Spalletti confirms Radja Nainggolan has promised to stay amid Chelsea offers

Chelsea's proposed summer move for Radja Nainggolan has been thrown into further doubt, with Roma manager Luciano Spalletti revealing that he has promised to remain at the Stadio Olimpico next season. The 28-year-old Belgian international, who arrived in the Italian capital on an initial loan deal in 2014 before the agreement was later made permanent, has developed a reputation as one of the finest combative midfielders in Europe and scored six times in 42 appearances across all competitions last term.

Antonio Conte's imminent arrival as Chelsea boss after the culmination of Italy's campaign at Euro 2016 has seen the club inevitably linked with a slew of Serie A's most talented players including the likes of experienced Juventus centre-back Leonardo Bonucci, Kostas Manolas, Miralem Pjanic and Kalidou Koulibaly. However, it is his interest in Nainggolan that appears to be most pressing, with the London Evening Standard reporting that he has already been the subject of two separate transfer bids from the deposed Premier League champions.

The latter of those offers was said to be in the region of £27.4m ($35.1m), although so far Roma, who recently sold Pjanic to Juve, have held firm in their desire to retain his services. It has been suggested that the club are even eager to offer a bumper new deal in order to fend off that mounting interest, although Spalletti insists that he remains fully committed to the Giallorossi.

"Radja is a man of his word and he promised me he will stay," he was quoted as saying by The Mirror. "I spoke to him and he seemed enthusiastic about continuing to give us his contribution next season."

Spalletti also confirmed that he is still striving to keep Wojciech Szczesny. The goalkeeper featured 42 times during a successful season-long loan stint in 2015/16, but will now return to parent club Arsenal unless an agreement can be reached. Roma's decision to recruit Brazil stopper Alisson Becker from Internacional had led many to speculate that he would not be returning.

"We're trying to keep hold of Wojciech Szczesny, even if there isn't a goalkeeping problem, considering we've signed Alisson," the boss added. "Morgan De Sanctis will probably continue to be part of our squad."

Both of those aforementioned players are currently away on international duty at Euro 2016 and it is unlikely that either of their futures will be sorted before the tournament is completed. Nainggolan featured for 62 minutes of Belgium's hugely disappointing 2-0 defeat to Italy in Group E but is unlikely to be dropped for tomorrow's (18 June) meeting with the Republic of Ireland in Bordeaux. Szczesny, meanwhile, was selected ahead of Lukasz Fabianski and Artur Boruc for Poland's 1-0 win over Northern Ireland but missed the goalless draw with rivals Germany due to a thigh problem.