Antonio Conte insists he has no bad blood with Arsene Wenger — but admits his feud with Jose Mourinho is personal.
The Chelsea boss hosts Wenger and Arsenal on Wednesday in the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final.
And while he is able to put last week’s spat with the Frenchman to one aside, he revealed he “will not forget” the recent barbs from Manchester United counterpart and Stamford Bridge Mourinho that escalated their spectacular war of words.
Mourinho taunted Conte with “match-fixing” jibes, while Wenger clashed with him over Eden Hazard’s controversial penalty last week in the 2-2 Premier League draw between the London rivals at the Emirates.
Conte said: “I don’t hate anyone. For sure I made a comment to Arsene, because he mentioned my player, otherwise I have respect from what every coach thinks.
“In this case, I made a comment because he mentioned Hazard. But every coach has their own opinion and we must respect it if you don’t offend anyone.”
Conte was less conciliatory about Mourinho, insisting he had no regrets about calling the Old Trafford boss “fake” and “a little man” at the weekend.
Both men have been criticised over the row, but Conte said: “I have this look of a person who regrets? I don’t think so.
“I think we both said things and we will see what happens in the future.”
Asked whether the FA or the League Managers’ Association had intervened, Conte insisted there was no need.
He added: “I think it’s not important, the association, you understand. It’s not important. He [Mourinho] said serious words, using serious words. And I won’t forget this.”
Conte also dismissed suggestions that the row reflected badly on Chelsea.
He continued: “This is not a problem from the club, it’s a problem between me and him. I stop. Stop.”
Meanwhile, Conte finally confirmed he wanted to sign Virgil van Dijk before the Dutchman’s £75million move from Southampton to Liverpool last week.
The Chelsea boss has been in the hunt for a commanding centre-back for some time, and remains on the hunt following Van Dijk’s decision to opt for Anfield.
Conte said: “This is football. This is life. For sure he was our target but, as you know, this is football.
“We can have a lot of targets, but you must be able to reach those targets. The transfer market is not simple for any club.”
PROBABLE TEAMS
CHELSEA Courtois, Moses, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Christensen, Alonso, Kante, Fabregas, Hazard, Willian, Morata.
ARSENAL Ospina; Chambers, Mustafi, Holding; Bellerin, Xhaka, Wilshere, Maitland-Niles; Iwobi, Sanchez; Lacazette.