Inter Milan have admitted to speaking to Chelsea over the potential sale of Fredy Guarin, but have opted to keep the Colombian midfielder at the San Siro.

The Serie A outfit were rumoured to be willing to cash in on the 27-year-old midfielder in order to fund moves for some attacking reinforcements.

However, Inter's sporting director Piero Ausilio has now insisted that Guarin remains a key player and will be remaining at the club, claiming that talks with the Blues never reached an advanced stage.

"Guarin is an Inter player and we are happy to keep him," he told . "Denying the contacts with Chelsea would be denying the evidence.

"It is a source of pride to talk with them about one of our players, but everything stopped there.

"We are happy Guarin could stay with us for a long time. We don't have the intention to sell him. He's an important player."

Guarin has scored 10 goals in 63 Inter appearances and was previously linked with Tottenham Hotspur.