AC Milan set to complete £35m deal for Chelsea target Leonardo Bonucci

AC Milan are on the verge of agreeing a deal for centre-back Leonardo Bonucci from Juventus for a fee of around £35.2m ($45.6m).

The Guardian says talks between Bonucci's representatives and Milan are at an advanced stage and that the transfer could be concluded as early as this weekend.

Bonucci, 30, is set to be the ninth summer arrival at San Siro, with Milan's Chinese owners financing a major spending spree to restore the Serie A giants to their former glory.

The Rossoneri have signed the likes of Andre Silva, Andrea Conti, Hakan Calhanoglu, Mateo Musacchio and Ricardo Rodriguez, while Franck Kessie and Fabio Borini have been brought in on loan.

Chelsea have been persistently linked with a move for Bonucci and were reported to have a made a £48m offer for the defender last summer.

Bonucci's relationship with Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri soured last campaign after a series of bust-ups between the pair.

The defender was dropped for Juve's Champions League round-of-16 first-leg clash with Porto in February as punishment for arguing with Allegri during a 4-1 win over Palermo earlier that month.

The Italy defender said in an interview in March that he would only leave Juventus if the club decided to sell him.

"I don't know if [Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri] will go to the Premier League, but I'm owned by this club and the club will decide whether or not to sell me. I hope to honour the contract," Bonucci was quoted as saying by Goal.

During an interview in June, Allegri defended his decision to drop Bonucci against Porto and tipped him to be a future Juventus captain.

"At that particular moment it was the right thing to do. There are times when you should turn a blind eye and times when you have to have your eyes wide open and in that moment Leo was wrong," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

"We played a good game against Porto and then after two days Bonucci came back, because 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."