Luciano Spalletti describes Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan as “a rare beast” – “if you had 10 of him you’d have a very strong team”.
The Belgian international has been in sensational form in recent weeks, with five goals and two assists in his last six games.
“It’s hard to find adjectives for him, to make comparisons,” Spalletti said in his pre-Lazio Press conference.
Luciano Spalletti describes Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan as “a rare beast” – “if you had 10 of him you’d have a very strong team”.
The Belgian international has been in sensational form in recent weeks, with five goals and two assists in his last six games.
“It’s hard to find adjectives for him, to make comparisons,” Spalletti said in his pre-Lazio Press conference.
“He might be the evolution of the footballer species. If you had 10 Nainggolans you’d have a very strong team, regardless of the role.
“Nainggolan adapts to anything. If I ask him to do something, he absorbs it and then he goes and does it. If you ask more from him, he’ll go even further.
“It’s like having 10km worth of petrol, then he gives you a reserve to go an extra 2km and refuel. If you put him in front of the defence, he doubles the quality there, he can adapt to many other roles.
“He can shoot, as we saw on Sunday, as well as chase down a man on the edge of the area. Usually if a player does one thing, he can’t do another.
“He can dribble, he can run down 10 players… he’s a rare beast.”
Spalletti also offered an update on Alessandro Florenzi, who is recovering after a second cruciate ligament surgery.
“Florenzi is undergoing his rehabilitation right now, and unfortunately it will take a long time. I saw him just now, and he had a smile on his face so that’s the best hope to see him back as soon as possible.
“Nura [Abdullahi] will be with us soon, Emerson [Palmieri] trained with us today and he’s fine, if there are no problems he’ll be available – Spalletti says nothing new!”