Radja Nainggolan, Roma, 17/18Getty Images

'I'd be a liar if I said money didn't interest me' - Nainggolan explains China rejection

Radja Nainggolan says he would be a "liar" if he claimed he was not interested in money, after rejecting advances from both China and Chelsea over the past two years.

The Roma midfielder joined the club in 2014 from Cagliari, but has been courted by the CSL and Antonio Conte's side in the past couple of seasons.

While the 29-year-old admits that he is, of course, interested in the idea of perhaps doubling or tripling his current pay packet, he maintains that he is more interested in maintaining his current lifestyle in Italy.

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"There was a little something, nothing serious," Nainggolan told Il Tempo regarding interest from China earlier this year.

"I'd be a liar if I said money didn't interest me, I'm 30 ... But the truth is that in the past I rejected important offers, two years ago I could have gone to Chelsea and earned more, but for me there is not only the economic aspect. 

"Let me explain, one thing is to say: 'I'm going to have a good time in China and get the money'. There are people willing to do anything, even to wash their clothes with their hands, just to go and get all that money. 

"Another question is if I have to stay on the same level, is it better to change city and lifestyle so often? I don't have this thought yet. I'm fine here and that's it."

Nainggolan has made 24 appearances in Serie A this season, with Roma third in the table, four points ahead of fourth-placed Inter Milan.

Spalletti’s Inter had also been linked with a move for Nainggolan last summer, but the Belgian again insisted he was happy to stay at Roma.

He added: "There was interest from them because the coach rates me and vice versa, even if you wrote a thousand stories about it…but forget it.

"I have always had a good relationship with Spalletti, he put me in the best condition to express myself. But, in the end, in the summer there was no chance that I would leave Roma.

"It’s not that I didn’t want to go there. There was interest but nothing concrete. There was no offer, yet it was claimed ‘Spalletti’s bringing Nainggolan, Strootman etc with him'. It was mostly paper talk."

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