Serie A giants Milan have confirmed that Chelsea have made "an important financial offer" to sign defender Alessio Romagnoli.
The club announced on their official website that negotiations between the two clubs have been extremely friendly and that they decided not to sell the youngster.
Recent reports have claimed that the Blues offered more than £25million to sign the 21-year-old.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte made it clear at the end of last week that he wants to add one or more defenders to his squad before the end of the summer transfer window, adding that he is concerned about a situation where a key defender is suspended or injured.
"If you look now at our squad, we have only five defenders - four that started today and an academy player Ola Aina," he said.
"Ola is very good - he has great potential - but with any young player you must work to put them in the first team. Sure, he has a good future.
"If one defender is injured or banned, then we are in trouble, but the club and me we know this and we are talking every day to improve the squad.
"We know that this market is very difficult. It's crazy. I don't want to buy only to buy. I want to buy the right profile for Chelsea, the right investment for the solution and for the future."
