Radja Nainggolan says he would still love to play Roma Vs Inter, and the feeling has not gone away. Watching Roma-Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico, the 38-year-old said he felt the urge to pull on his boots again.
Nainggolan said he is still fit, still thinks he could play at this level, and would find a place at Roma or Inter as either an attacking midfielder or a box-to-box midfielder. He called the match a tough one between two teams that like to attack, said Inter remain stronger because of their squad depth, and added that Roma have found stability and identity under Gasperini. He also said Dybala could decide it.
The timing matters because he is not speaking from the middle of a top-flight dressing room. He now plays for Patro Eisden, in the second division, yet he is describing a game he believes he still belongs in. That makes his view on Roma and Inter more than nostalgia; it is a direct comparison with where the clubs are now and where he thinks he still fits.
His criticism of Monchi is sharper. Nainggolan said the sporting director played a double game, asking him for transfer advice while at the same time negotiating to sell him. He said Monchi wanted to break up the squad built by Walter Sabatini and even used the same method with Dzeko, whom he tried to move to Chelsea. Nainggolan added that Roma had just reached the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool and felt they could still grow, which is why he says he would never have left.
He also drew a clear line between the way Roma treated him and the way Inter did. Nainggolan said Spalletti called him to Inter and that he wrote the most exciting chapters of his career with him, but that things changed after the first year. He said he paid the price for Spalletti's departure, because Conte immediately told him he was not part of his plans. Even so, Nainggolan said Conte was direct with him, and he respected that.
For now, the comments reopen an old argument around one of Roma's most recognizable recent midfielders without changing the one thing that matters most today: Roma Vs Inter is still the match he wants to be in, even if it is no longer the match he gets to play.
