Chelsea are facing more frustration in their search for a new striker after AC Milan made a major move to beat them to the signing of Alvaro Morata.

The club have already lost out to Manchester United on coach Antonio Conte's first choice, Romelu Lukaku, and are now in danger of seeing Morata go elsewhere too.

AC Milan have told the Real Madrid striker they will pay him £167,000-a-week after tax to take him to the San Siro. That is more than the £150,000-a-week deal that Chelsea have offered so far.

Neither club have matched Real Madrid's £80m asking price, which is proving to be another major obstacle for Chelsea, who are willing to spend up to £70m.

It is the centre forward position that is giving Conte most cause for concern with the start of the season less than four weeks away.

At the moment, the only two senior forwards available are Michy Batshuayi and Loic Remy, both of whom could leave Stamford Bridge by the time the transfer window shuts at the end of next month.

Chelsea's leading marksman for the past three seasons, Diego Costa, has been told he is not part of Conte's plans and is still on holiday in Brazil while Chelsea negotiate with Atletico Madrid over a sale.

Costa has made it clear he only wants a move back to Atletico, who sold him to Chelsea for £32m in 2014.

The players on Chelsea’s transfer shortlist 16 show all The players on Chelsea’s transfer shortlist 1/16 The players on Chelsea's wishlist... Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images 2/16 Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal Arsenal FC via Getty Images 3/16 Alex Sandro | Juventus Getty Images 4/16 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Arsenal Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 5/16 Ross Barkley | Everton Getty Images 6/16 Djibril Sidibe | AS Monaco AFP/Getty Images 7/16 Virgil van Dijk | Southampton Getty Images 8/16 Adama Traore | Middlesbrough 9/16 Cedric Soares | Southampton Getty Images 10/16 Ryan Bertrand | Southampton Ian Walton/Getty Images 11/16 Mousa Dembele | Celtic Getty Images 12/16 Fernando Llorente | Swansea Getty Images 13/16 Marco Verratti | PSG AFP/Getty Images 14/16 Faouzi Ghoulam | Napoli Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images 15/16 Danny Drinkwater | Leicester City Getty Images 16/16 Renato Sanches | Bayern Munich Bongarts/Getty Images 1/16 The players on Chelsea's wishlist... Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images 2/16 Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal Arsenal FC via Getty Images 3/16 Alex Sandro | Juventus Getty Images 4/16 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Arsenal Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 5/16 Ross Barkley | Everton Getty Images 6/16 Djibril Sidibe | AS Monaco AFP/Getty Images 7/16 Virgil van Dijk | Southampton Getty Images 8/16 Adama Traore | Middlesbrough 9/16 Cedric Soares | Southampton Getty Images 10/16 Ryan Bertrand | Southampton Ian Walton/Getty Images 11/16 Mousa Dembele | Celtic Getty Images 12/16 Fernando Llorente | Swansea Getty Images 13/16 Marco Verratti | PSG AFP/Getty Images 14/16 Faouzi Ghoulam | Napoli Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images 15/16 Danny Drinkwater | Leicester City Getty Images 16/16 Renato Sanches | Bayern Munich Bongarts/Getty Images

The 28-year-old won't be on Chelsea's pre-season tour to the Far East, which leaves for Beijing tomorrow. Neither will midfielder Nemanja Matic as he attempts to finalise a £40m switch to Juventus.

Costa has angered Chelsea fans after filming himself at a party last night wearing an Atletico Madrid shirt.

Should AC Milan succeed in buying Morata, Chelsea will consider either Torino's Andrea Belotti and Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Neither will be easy. Belotti has a release clause in his contract worth £87m, while Dortmund have set a strict deadline for any sale of Aubameyang.

The Bundesliga club have confirmed that his future must be resolved one way or the other by next week when they have a training camp in Switzerland, just as Standard Sport revealed last Thursday.

It is the 28-year-old who is pushing for a move elsewhere, but Chelsea have not made a bid as yet.

Dortmund still hope to keep him, but will listen to offers around £65m as long as it arrives by July 24.

Conte also wants Swansea forward Fernando Llorente to join as a back-up forward, but the Italian may have to reconsider keeping Batshuayi, who was expecting to leave on loan.