GENOA claim to have rejected an £11.4million bid from “an English club” for Diego Perotti, who was believed to be a target for both Cherries and Watford.

The Italian club’s president Enrico Preziosi revealed a deadline-day offer had been tabled for the midfielder, according to a report in the Daily Express.

“I rejected an offer for Perotti on Monday,” said Preziosi. “Then, yesterday, an offer of £11.4m came in from England. I told the lad and we decided together to turn it down.

“You can’t sell someone like Perotti on the last day of the transfer window. The money would have made us comfortable, but we’re in a better place now than a few years ago.”

Cherries are understood to have entered negotiations with Genoa over a deal for Perotti after a deal for Napoli’s Jonathan de Guzman had fallen through.

Watford were believed to have lodged a £7m offer for the 25-year-old in June – only for it to be turned down, while Liverpool and Tottenham were linked to the player in 2011.

Perotti, who joined Genoa from Sevilla last summer, boasts two caps for Argentina and scored four times in 27 Serie A appearances last season.