Chelsea transfer news: Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe says ‘he would not sell Callum Wilson at any price’

Gianfranco Zola confirmed Chelsea's interest in the England international amid rumours of Alvaro Morata’s departure

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has resolutely dismissed the possibility of Callum Wilson leaving the club in January as Chelsea pursue a £50m move for the 26-year-old striker.

The Blues assistant manager, Gianfranco Zola, confirmed that Chelsea had an interest in Wilson a few weeks ago with Alvaro Morata hoping to seal a return to Spain and draw an end to his ill-favoured spell at the club.

“I’ve been told about the speculation, it’s not something I seek to read,” said Howe. “It’s a waste of time for me to do so. 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.

Wilson has been integral to Bournemouth’s high-flying start this season, scoring nine goals and adding five assists in 20 appearances so far this season, and earned a first England call-up in November.

“He [Wilson] is a very important member of the team,” Howe continued. “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 we value him really highly.”

“I wouldn’t rule anything in or out. It’s a month that historically we have never wanted to do anything,” he added.

“This season, more than any other, we have been forced to act on the back of the injuries that we’ve had to some personnel in the team so we will wait to see what happens in the rest of the window.

“We need to react if anything else happens to any of our players injury wise and of course we are always looking to improve the squad.”