£75m man

BOURNEMOUTH will demand £75million from Chelsea for striker Callum Wilson.

That sum is a staggering 25 TIMES the amount the Cherries paid Coventry for Wilson in July 2014.

And it underlines their resolve to keep hold of the England forward in the current window. Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri admitted his club would go as high as £50m in order to land their target, who has scored 10 goals so far this season.

But Bournemouth counterpart Eddie Howe has since responded by reiterating Wilson is going nowhere this month. That is the club’s public stance but behind closed doors the general consensus of the Bournemouth hierarchy is they would listen to offers over £70m.

The fact they have signed a long-term replacement – after splashing £19m on Liverpool hitman Dominic Solanke 10 days ago – is significant.

However, with the England Under-21s star a ‘few weeks’ off recovering from hamstring trouble, the out-of-form Cherries cannot

cash in on Wilson – who has one England cap and one international goal to his name – just yet.

The Dorset club travel to Everton today having suffered nine defeats in their last 11 outings in all competitions.

The game of transfer poker over Wilson, 26, also means the future of Chelsea’s unhappy striker Alvaro Morata is still up in the air.

He is wanted by Sevilla and is desperate to leave.

But Stamford Bridge boss Sarri will be reluctant to lose the Spain international until he has added additional firepower.

Talks over a loan swoop for former Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, 31, appear to have stalled because of the Argentina star’s huge wages – and complications in that he is already on loan at AC Milan from Juventus.