Chelsea target Andrea Pirlo is 'off the market', insist Milan
• 'Pirlo will end his career in Milan,' says Silvio Berlusconi
• Chelsea had offered £6.5m plus Claudio Pizarro
Chelsea are set to be disappointed in their pursuit of Andrea Pirlo after Milan said the midfield playmaker would see out his career with the Rossoneri.
The Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi arrived at the team's Milanello training ground today to have lunch with the vice-president Adriano Galliani and the coach Leonardo. After a one and a half hour meeting he called the press to announce that Pirlo had been taken off the market.
"Andrea Pirlo is officially off the market – he will stay with us", said Berlusconi. "We received some important offers for him, especially from Carlo Ancelotti who wanted to take Pirlo to Chelsea with him. But we decided that he will stay. Leonardo told us that Pirlo is too important for our team. So we decided he will end his career here at Milan."
Chelsea had previously offered Milan £6.5m plus the striker Claudio Pizarro in exchange for Pirlo, but that offer was considered to be too low.
Berlusconi added that there was money to spend on a new striker, and Milan are expected to renew their efforts to sign Sevilla's Luis Fabiano. Pizarro and Real Madrid's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Pizarro also remain targets, according to reports.
