Radja Nainggolan??

[Saint Garrett]

http://www.insidefutbol.com/2013/04/16/southampton-plot-summer-radja-nainggolan-swoop/83703/?

 

Cagliari midfielder and Belgium international Radja Nainggolan may soon make a move to English Premier League side Southampton, according to Italian daily Corriere dello Sport.

 

The Antwerp-born Cagliari starlet has done well to gain the trust of manager Ivo Pulga, with the 24-year-old making 28 appearances for the club this season, missing only three matches due to yellow card suspensions.

 

This level of skill, work rate and discipline has attracted a number of clubs, among them AC Milan, who are looking for a replacement to their holding midfielder Nigel de Jong. Fellow Italian side Napoli, along with Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg, are also keen.

 

 

 

 

Nainggolan wanted to leave the Serie A side last summer, but club president Massimo Cellino slapped a hefty €10M price tag on the Belgian, which may have caused some clubs to reconsider their bids.

 

But now Southampton have joined the race to sign Nainggolan and the Saints are willing to release the needed cash to bring the Cagliari midfielder to St. Mary’s this summer.

 

The Belgium international, who transferred to Cagliari in 2010 from now-sixth-tier side Piacenza, is under contract with the Rossoblu until 2015.

 

He has won four caps for his country.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2310137/Southampton-launch-bid-Belgium-winger-Radja-Nainggolan.html

 

Southampton are launching a bid to sign Belgium winger Radja Nainggolan.

Chairman Nicola Cortese has already lined up a move for Cagliari's Italy defender Davide Astori and wants his £15m-rated clubmate Nainggolan, 24, who has been scouted regularly by Manchester City.

 

Cortese is ready to invest heavily this summer to help the Saints kick on after what was a nervy season for the most part.

Nigel Adkins was sacked in January as Southampton flirted with relegation, but Mauricio Pochettino has guided them to 11th in the table, seven clear of the drop zone.

The club are also interested in signing QPR midfielder Esteban Granero.

 

Edited 17 April, 2013 by Saint Garrett

[Saint Charlie]

Mancini been a big fan of his, I don't know much about him though.

 

Big fee needed?

 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11872/7795265/Cagliari-set-Nainggolan-price

[Saint-Armstrong]

Yes please.

[Window Cleaner]

Mancini been a big fan of his, I don't know much about him though.

 

Big fee needed?

 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11872/7795265/Cagliari-set-Nainggolan-price

 

probably not worth 18 million €. Far too many cards, would be suspended half the time in the UK.

[KelvinsRightGlove]

I signed this guy for Saints on FM once. He was class.

 

I'm seriously thinking the club should give me a role on the committee, they go after all the players I do anyway.

 

And we all know the relevance of FM to real life.

 

Anyone got Cortese's mobile number?

[itchen_dan]

Hmmm. He's at Cagliari, the same as a certain Davide Astori. Double deal perhaps?

[Turkish]

Hmmm. He's at Cagliari, the same as a certain Davide Astori. Double deal perhaps?

 

who are 10th in Serie A. A poorer standard league than the Premier, therefore no better than we have.

[Barry Sanchez]

Looks good but why him unless we plan to change our formation and go with pace and counter attacking football?

[shurlock]

Sure we'll be linked to lots of players -much of which will be BS; but, if we're looking at CMs, suggests we don't think JWP is quite ready.

[saints-cris]

Sure we'll be linked to lots of players -much of which will be BS; but, if we're looking at CMs, suggests we don't think JWP is quite ready.

 

No biggy, he is still a very young lad after all. Plenty of time to flourish, only going to get better around better players.

[pingwing]

Signed him on FM10 as Saints (back when FM was more fun) and he was a mental winger, fast and strong broke the game...

 

More recent ones he's a tank in midfield, Chaplow's bite with Richardson's talent as a front sweeper and the strength of a well fed ox.

 

Back to reality, looked good on the obligatory youtube video (complete with insultingly bad music) and at least fits the model of players we try to sign, young, lots to prove in a big stage and he has a plus of a few more international caps (though last summer we signed 3 players who were already international regulars so maybe the profile needs updating). So I say SIGN HIM UP!

[Badger]

No thanks, Dave Merrington will struggle too much with his name, which sounds like a train station in North Wales.

[Olallana]

Would be a great addition for us, very good player.

 

Yes please, but probably worth maximum £10m.

[Olallana]

Mancini been a big fan of his, I don't know much about him though.

 

Big fee needed?

 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11872/7795265/Cagliari-set-Nainggolan-price

 

One year less on his contract now, Cagliari probably happy to cash in now with 2 yrs left on his contract. If they dont sell this summer his price would be cut with 30-40% in the summer 2014.

[trousers]

Could this be the first Saints player with two concurrent Gs in his name?

[sotonist]

Could this be the first Saints player with two concurrent Gs in his name?

 

[Window Cleaner]

Could this be the first Saints player with two concurrent Gs in his name?

 

nah we must have had a briggs, biggins or troggsworth at some stage in our history.

 

hah got one.... jack hogg

Edited 16 April, 2013 by Window Cleaner

[saints_is_the_south]

Just tweeted Italian football expert James Horncastle (one of the best football pundits in Europe) about him, this is what he had to say.

 

@JamesHorncastle: @Lee_R1989 v.good player. Archetypal modern midfielder. All the big clubs in Italy want him, mind, particularly Inter.

[Jonnyboy]

who are 10th in Serie A. A poorer standard league than the Premier, therefore no better than we have.

 

But we are never going to finish anywhere near 10th.

[laughba]

He doesn't really impress me that much from clips. But clips don't always give one a fair reflection of a players ability.

[trousers]

Could this be the first Belgian Saints player with two concurrent Gs in his name?

[Crab Lungs]

Oh my word, if we get him, we're really trying to go big time. He's absolutely f()cking awesome.

[Crab Lungs]

who are 10th in Serie A. A poorer standard league than the Premier, therefore no better than we have.

 

You say that but you're forgetting two things - (1) He's young (2) Because he's young, he's likely to be hungry AND improve.

[SuperSAINT]

This summer is going to so damn good!

 

(Please stay up!)

[Sour Mash]

Those ITK on this chap, where would he rank compared to Cork or Schneiderlin? Better than either?

[Crab Lungs]

Those ITK on this chap, where would he rank compared to Cork or Schneiderlin? Better than either?

 

As good as, IMO - that said, he's probably more of a Morgan than a Cork. But having him would give us another option, another blend to our midfield...

[shurlock]

In theory, he could also step in for Davis.

[SaintRobbie]

That video is not all that complementary! He seems to miss more than he scores!

[Crab Lungs]

That video is not all that complementary! He seems to miss more than he scores!

 

He's a defensive midfielder.

[captainchris]

Well we just had at the video and thought nothing special.....

[The9]

That video is not all that complimentary! He seems to miss more than he scores!

 

As opposed to the mighty goalscoring record of Jack Cork ?

[Glasgow_Saint]

Very average when i have watched him play

[The9]

Anyway, here's a picture, because, y'know, I think all HCDAJFU-type threads should have one. It is also a subclause of Rule 1.

 

[Window Cleaner]

He's a defensive midfielder.

 

with an atrocious disciplinary record, Joey Barton (on field) MkII

[Crab Lungs]

Seriously, are some of you head mental? People saying they're "not impressed".... It's not the same people who weren't impressed with Hooiveld, Yoshida, Boruc, Schneiderlin, Lallana, Lambert, Rodriguez, Ramirez, Davis et al... and now a guy, who is courted by several of Europe's top clubs, doesn't impress you because of a fan-made video?

 

If you'd take some time to actually research the player, maybe watch a Cagliari game or ask someone who knows better than yourself about him you might find a more balanced viewpoint. But oh no, here we go, write him off, that's what we do.

 

You won't get a fair reflection of his ability/attributes from a video like that. He's not a player that regularly does "flashy" stuff. He's an effective, tenacious, powerful ball winner with good distribution/attacking traits but if you showed a 10 minute video of interceptions, tackles and successful passes you'd be bored out of your head watching it.

 

I really don't understand why people can't get grasp that you won't get a flashy highlights video if the player is more defensively orientated.

[The9]

FWIW I am the world's worst person at assessing defensive midfielders, but what exactly do people expect to see in a highlights video of a defensive midfielder ? All the goals they would have stopped had they been on the pitch, or recreations of parallel universes where they didn't make the interception/tackle/track back ?

 

Seeing as we're loving the DM here, I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out that Cork's stooping header whilst running towards his own goal on Saturday in the rain was one of the best goalline clearances I've ever seen, along with Morgan's 6 yard box saving tackle a couple of weeks back in the DM Hall of Fame.

[ToreSF]

Expect us to be linked with a bunch of players from serie a and la liga the next few months.

[The9]

I really don't understand why people can't get grasp that you won't get a flashy highlights video if the player is more defensively orientated.

 

Great minds. We should run a team together or something.

[The9]

Expect us to be linked with a bunch of players from serie a and la liga the next few months.

 

And Argentinians ?

[LGTL]

Seriously, are some of you head mental? People saying they're "not impressed".... It's not the same people who weren't impressed with Hooiveld, Yoshida, Boruc, Schneiderlin, Lallana, Lambert, Rodriguez, Ramirez, Davis et al... and now a guy, who is courted by several of Europe's top clubs, doesn't impress you because of a fan-made video?

 

If you'd take some time to actually research the player, maybe watch a Cagliari game or ask someone who knows better than yourself about him you might find a more balanced viewpoint. But oh no, here we go, write him off, that's what we do.

 

You won't get a fair reflection of his ability/attributes from a video like that. He's not a player that regularly does "flashy" stuff. He's an effective, tenacious, powerful ball winner with good distribution/attacking traits but if you showed a 10 minute video of interceptions, tackles and successful passes you'd be bored out of your head watching it.

 

I really don't understand why people can't get grasp that you won't get a flashy highlights video if the player is more defensively orientated.

 

Exactly, and what do they prove anyway? De Ridder looked amazing in his....

 

Saying that, some of our helmet fans would probably rather have De Ridder.

[Crab Lungs]

Great minds. We should run a team together or something.

 

You wouldn't believe it, but I keep getting messages now for "one more final fling" at the MVFL...

 

Resisted so far. Tempted?

[The9]

Exactly, and what do they prove anyway? De Ridder looked amazing in his....

 

Saying that, some of our helmet fans would probably rather have De Ridder.

 

He'd make a superb DM with his possession and tackling abilities.

 

[The9]

You wouldn't believe it, but I keep getting messages now for "one more final fling" at the MVFL...

 

Resisted so far. Tempted?

 

Not remotely, I am now too old to justify picking myself which takes all the fun out of it, and petrol has gone up about 20p since our last 90 mile round journey or trip to Portsmouth in the rain for a late postponement. Also, unless 2/3rds of the people you know have learned to drive...

[Crab Lungs]

Not remotely, I am now too old to justify picking myself which takes all the fun out of it, and petrol has gone up about 20p since our last 90 mile round journey or trip to Portsmouth in the rain for an abandonment. Also, unless 2/3rds of the people you know have learned to drive...

 

You can be like a Venky's overlord then whilst me and Andrews potter around on the touchlines of East Hampshire, hoping you don't summon us to Casa Griffin for a "performance review"

[SuperMikey]

Yes please! Technically he's superb, also has lots of energy. Think Steven Davis but younger, quicker and more solid.

[Crab Lungs]

He's basically a rotweiller that's good at football, to simplify things. Very all-action, rarely goes missing in games. If he can somehow tone down his aggressive side a bit he'd be a huge acquisition for a club our size.

[Crab Lungs]

To further support my summary;

 

http://www.whoscored.com/Players/52380

[SNSUN]

Wow, coming up for a chant from him would need an Ivor Novello award-winning song writer.

[The9]

You can be like a Venky's overlord then whilst me and Andrews potter around on the touchlines of East Hampshire, hoping you don't summon us to Casa Griffin for a "performance review"

 

I know too much about football for that role.

[The9]

Who's ahead of him for Belgium ? Kompany and Fellaini ?