Chelsea's search for a centre half has suffered another blow after Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri insisted Leonardo Bonucci won't be leaving the club.

Bonucci is one of the options Conte suggested to the board, along with Southampton's Virgil van Dijk.

The Italy international's relationship with Allegri did appear to be under strain when he was dropped for a Champions League game against Porto last season.

But Allegri claims that furore is now in the past and revealed that the 30-year-old is in line to replace 39-year-old Gianluigi Buffon as captain in the future.

Allegri said: "He’s an important player, an extraordinary player and above all he has to understand that he’ll be the future leader of the Juventus dressing room."

Chelsea will now concentrate their efforts on buying Van Dijk, who has been valued at £70m by Southampton.

The Dutch international preferred a move to Liverpool, but Southampton are determined not to sell to them after he was allegedly tapped-up by Jurgen Klopp's side.

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 Blues still hope to complete a club record £61m move for Juventus left back Alex Sandro and agree a fee with Everton for former striker Romelu Lukaku, who has been valued by the Merseyside club at a world record £100m.