Radja Nainggolan very subtly hints at a Chelsea transfer at Euro 2016 (very subtly)

Chelsea target and Belgium star Radja Nainggolan gave the smallest of inadvertent clues that he will be joining Chelsea this summer. With absolutely no qualifications in psychology, I hideously over-analyse it.

A blanket of heat cocooned the Allianz Riviera Stadium in Nice, France. Under the floodlights, Belgium took on a Swedish side well aware of the mortal stakes to the match. Anything but a win would knock the Swedes out of Euro 2016, and end the international career of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Many would cower, suffer and wince in the stuffy 27ºC. Not this man. Not this Belgian. Not this Chelsea transfer target.

Step forward Radja Nainggolan.

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The 28-year-old warrior, smothered with tattoos, standing at 5″10′. Bleached-blonde mohawk piercing the eyes of those who stand before him.

Eden Hazard, mercurial Chelsea winger, streaks down the left flank. He lifts his head up and spots the soldier-like Nainggolan rampaging towards the box.

With the sweetest of left-foot crosses, Hazard sweeps the ball immaculately (and completely intentionally) into the mohawked tank’s path.

A hush falls upon the crowd; he lines the shot up. In a moment of elegance Nainggolan takes seven dainty strides before crashing a right-footed strike heroically past the sprawling Andreas Isaksson.

As he calmly turns to celebrate he lifts his hand toward the deep, blue evening sky to form the letter C.

Deep, blue, like Chelsea’s deep blue kit.

C, as in Chelsea, Conte, carefree, celery.

I’m no expert, but I’m nearly certain this is a plea. A cry to the gods or, conversely, Roman Abramovich for an exceptional bid that would pry Nainggolan from the hands of AS Roma and deliver him to Chelsea and Conte, carefree.

Ok, ok, I’ll calm down. But in this day and age, this is barely an exaggeration of how transfer rumours start.

Belgium’s clash with Sweden demonstrated why in the past few weeks (months, years, who knows, it seems like forever) Chelsea have been linked with Nainggolan. He patrolled the midfield well, keeping most Swedish attacks in check. Often he was found on the edge of the box to attempt a shot or spread the play out wide.

Nainggolan could be Chelsea’s next quintessential box-to-box midfielder. The successor to the legacy of Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard. Nainggolan does not have Lampard’s goalscoring touch. He produced seven goals in all competitions this season for AS Roma, yet here he was rising to the occasion for Belgium.

Conte is apparently trying to persuade him to move, with countrymen and potential teammates Thibaut Courtois and Hazard as Chelsea’s men on the inside. The question hanging over the entire situation is whether the combined pressure of Conte, the locker room and the fans will be enough to persuade Roman Abramovich and Michael Emenalo to move aggressively for this signing.

The Blues still have made no rumblings in the transfer market, and the Nainggolan obsession is dragging on. Who knows – maybe his celebration was genuinely a call to Roman Abramovich to get his check book out.

Next: Loan Watch: Real Betis to become Chelsea C?

All I know is that I’ll be able to get an actual degree in psychology before this transfer saga is over.