Milan deny Bonucci transfer talk

AC Milan have dismissed out of hand the "inadmissible allegations" that Leonardo Bonucci is looking to leave San Siro.

The Italy international defender joined the Rossoneri from Serie A champions Juventus ahead of this season in a sensational €40million switch as part of a squad overhaul bankrolled by the club's new Chinese owners.

Despite a number of additions to the playing staff, Milan have struggled again in 2017-18 and after sacking head coach Vincenzo Montella and replacing him with Gennaro Gattuso, sit eighth in the table, a whopping 18 points behind leaders Napoli.

Recent rumours have suggested Bonucci - whose deal runs until 2022 - could be seeking an early exit from his contract, with Manchester City linked as a possible destination, but Milan moved to deny such claims on Thursday.

"But how beautiful the rediscovery of Bonucci! Suddenly...the threat of a sudden abandonment of Milan and the interest of big clubs," read a post on the club's official website reviewing the day's media coverage.

"In a nutshell, these are really inadmissible allegations. The reality is that Leo has already denied [the rumours] informally. Not only that, he will also [do so] formally.

"Because Leonardo Bonucci totally believes in the Milan project and this shows that the pre-Christmas stories are absolutely based on nothing.

"The captain is working hard, like all his team-mates, to redeem himself with the whole of Milan from a very negative position."