PORTO ROTONDO, Italy, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese consortium will pay 740 million euro to buy 99.93 percent of AC Milan club shares, according to a preliminary agreement signed on Friday.

Under the agreement, the Chinese investors headed by Li Yonghog, chairman of Sino-Europe Investment Management company, will pay 740 million euro, a number which includes assuming the 220 million euro of debt, to buy 99.93% shares of the Italian club.

"We have been negotiating with Fininvest for a long time, it was really hard," an insider told Xinhua. "Due to language barriers, we could not put our messages to the club president Mr. Silvio Berlusconi. Our plan almost went flat several times. We carried on until the end."

The Chinese team's lawyers worked out the details of the agreement on Wednesday night and sent it to Berlusconi for approval.

The former Italian Prime Minister, who has been rumored to sell his club several times, made up his mind and on Friday called the Chinese side to his villa in Sardinia where they signed the agreement.

Chinese electronics retailer Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd in June bought nearly 70 percent of city rivals Inter Milan for 270 million euros.