Nainggolan snubs Cagliari, flies out for Antwerp

Radja Nainggolan is flying out today for a medical with Royal Antwerp, according to Belgian sources, snubbing his long-awaited Cagliari transfer.

The midfielder is now a free agent after terminating his contract with Inter by mutual consent.

That had been considered the final step towards finally getting his dream move to Sardinia, where he had already gone on loan twice in the last two seasons.

However, the salary package they proposed was seemingly disappointing, especially after he already turned down proposals from Besiktas.

Now Nieuwsblad in Belgium claim that Nainggolan is flying in today to sign a two-year contract with Royal Antwerp.

He had initially turned down their first offer earlier this week, but it’s suggested a signing-on bonus will take his earnings over two years to €4m.

That is still less than he’d earn at Besiktas, but this represents a rare return home for Nainggolan, who spent the vast majority of his career in Italy.

The 33-year-old came to the Peninsula for Piacenza’s youth academy in 2004, going on to represent Cagliari, Roma and Inter.