Chelsea transfer news: £30m Alessio Romagnoli bid rejected by AC Milan as Blues pursue Kalidou Koulibaly alternatives
CHELSEA have trained their sights on Alessio Romagnoli as a central-defensive target and tabled £30million, according to reports in Italy.
But his club AC Milan are determined to keep him and have dismissed Antonio Conte’s opening offer.
Blues have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of chief target Kalidou Koulibaly with the Senegal defender set to snub a move to Stamford Bridge and sign a fresh deal with Napoli.
The London club are now believed to have told Napoli that they have lodged their final bid and moved on to other targets.
Blues boss Antonio Conte got a close look at Romagnoli when Chelsea beat Milan 3-1 in a friendly earlier this month
The Italy under-21 international is now thought to be one of two principle defensive targets.
Nikola Maksimovic is also on the radar – who is ironically a target for Napoli as well.
Romagnoli started his career with Roma before moving to the Rossoneri at the end of last summer in a £20m deal.
He impressed in his 33 league starts under former managers Sinisa Mihajlovic and Cristian Brocchi, with Milan finishing seventh in Serie A.
New boss Vincenzo Montella is desperate to hang on to Romagnoli but, according to Sky Italia, the Blues have tested their resolve with a monster bid.
And, after being bought out for £628m by a Chinese investment group, who wiped out their £187m of debts, Milan should be in a position to drive a hard bargain.