Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has declared that he would not be willing to sell striker Callum Wilson “at any price”.
Chelsea are keen on the England international and are reportedly willing to pay as much as £50m for him if they are unable to land Gonzalo Higuain.
Argentine forward Higuain, who played under Blues boss Maurizio Sarri at Napoli, is on a season-long loan at AC Milan from Juventus.
Sarri wants to take Higauin to Stamford Bridge but reports say he is also keen on Wilson.
“I’ve been told about the speculation, it’s not something I seek to read. It’s a waste of time for me to do so,” Howe said at a press conference, as reported by Sky.
“It’s business as normal, Callum has been bright and bubbly this week so no problems there.
“In my opinion, and it’s just my opinion, I wouldn’t sell at any price but I’m the manager of the team trying to create the best team that I can.
“We desperately want to take the team forward and to do that we have got to keep our best players.
“He is a very important member of the team. He has unique attributes that really complement what we do here.
“He’s been a really good goal scorer for us this season, that’s the hardest things to do in the sport so he value him really highly.”