Antonio Conte hits back at Jose Mourinho’s “clown” remark

The next meeting between Chelsea and Manchester United should be interesting.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has hit back at rival Jose Mourinho by suggesting that he has a memory problem. Conte launched a scathing attack on the Manchester United manager during Friday's press conference ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup clash with Norwich City. Mourinho said earlier this week that he was sick of being portrayed as a man without passion because he does not "behave like a clown on the touchline" - a thinly-disguised jab at Conte, who is renowned for celebrating exuberantly inside his technical area. Conte certainly took exception to Mourinho's barb and was quick to remind the Portuguese coach how he, too, was prone to touchline histrionics in his younger days.

“I think that he has to see himself in the past – maybe he was speaking about himself in the past, yeah? Maybe sometimes I think that someone forget what they said in the past or which is his behaviours and sometimes I think there is, I don’t know the name, demenza senile, when you are a bit [Conte taps his temple] when you forget what you do in the past.”

https://twitter.com/amadoit__/status/949299675928121345 "Demenza senile" translates to English as senile dementia. Conte later said he had intended to use the word 'amnesia.' The Italian coach also confirmed that Chelsea are on the verge of completing the signing of Ross Barkley from Everton.

“For sure, we are talking about a young English player, he has a good prospect for Chelsea. “The club decided for this investment also for his contract. This is a good opportunity for the club to buy this player. He is very young. He has a lot of space for improvement. Very strong physically, good technique and he is a good prospect but at the same time, it will be very important to understand always to repeat if the player signs for the club to understand when he can recover from his injury.

https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/949230731858980865

"Don't forget he had a bad injury, he had surgery and he has not played for seven months. In case this player signs for the club because the club will inform you if there is some news, we must have great patience and we have to hope to recover him very quickly ad to try to help us for the rest of the season."

In a shock development, Chelsea were also linked with a move for West Ham striker Andy Carroll on Thursday evening. Conte was less explicit when asked about the former Liverpool forward but suggested that Carroll's was a name that has come up in discussions between himself and the recruitment team.

"Yeah but about the transfer market, as I said before, I don't know, and I gave my opinion to the club but the club then decide the players we can buy or we can sell."