5 players who rejected a transfer to Chelsea

#1 Radja Nainggolan

Nainggolan resisted monetary advances and opted to stay at Roma because he feels well settled and respected there.

In the end, one of the biggest and most impactful players ever to reject Chelsea's advances in recent years would be Radja Nainggolan. The mind is tantalized in thinking what a fantastic story Nainggolan and Chelsea could've scripted together in London.

Landing a player of the Belgian's ability is truly a commendable achievement and if there is any club which is capable of pulling off such a coup, its Chelsea.

Chelsea pursued Nainggolan for two seasons straight, but to no avail. He differs from the other players on this list in the sense that he did not reject the approach made by Chelsea for other clubs. Instead, he deliberately chose to continue with Roma.

Whenever Chelsea made an approach, they did so with ample compensation to the Roma management for the Belgian's services. They also offered to generously remunerate Nainggolan for his time in London and tried to lay down a concrete plan, as opposed to a vague idea, as to where and how prominently he would be utilized in Chelsea.

Chelsea favors a 3-4-3 formation as opposed to Roma's preferred 4-3-3. Roma focuses more on defensive stability and having numerous strikers rather than on game distribution through midfield. The midfielders either contribute towards defensive duties or help in attacking through runs down the flank.

Instead, Chelsea wanted to completely capitalize on Nainggolan's midfield abilities and run the game through him. He would've been the link which connected the defense to the attack at Chelsea and would be playing a large part in controlling the game for Chelsea. Moreover, he would also be in charge of transition plays and the conversion from defense to attack would be facilitated through Nainggolan. As such, he would enjoy increased visibility and responsibility, not to mention the high wages and chance to compete for silverware on all fronts.

In the end, though, it was not to be. As is traditional case with many players in Roma, Nainggolan was supremely faithful to the Giallorosi and decided to reject the approach from Chelsea. In an interview earlier this year, he would go on to say that not everything in football is about money - when the topic of his possible transfer to Chelsea was brought up.

Also, Nainggolan revealed that he felt very comfortably settled in Rome and at 29 years of age, did not want to leave everything at Rome to adapt to a new culture and environment in London. This drastic change in scene acted as an important deterrent for Nainggolan and was a big reason behind him staying put at Roma instead. His family is also based out of Rome and he did not want to either leave them and relocate to London or to shift them as well.

In the end, one can only fantasize about the absolutely monstrous pairing that would be of Nainggolan and Chelsea.