Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has a penchant for attacking his rivals’ hairline. In 2014, when he was Chelsea manager, he had said that then Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola is bald “because he doesn’t enjoy football”.
Mourinho was at it again on Sunday, responding to current Chelsea manager Antonio Conte’s dig at him recently. Talking about Chelsea’s bid to defend their Premier League title in the upcoming season, Conte had said that the club will want to “avoid a Mourinho season”.
Mourinho had won the title with Chelsea in 2014-’15, before following it up with a horror season in which the club eventually finished 10th in the league. Mourinho was sacked by the club halfway through the season, when Chelsea will languishing in the bottom half of the table.
Following United’s 3-0 win over Norwegian side Valerenga in a friendly on Sunday, Mourinho was asked to comment on Conte’s dig. This is what he said: “I don’t know, I could answer in many different ways. I’m not going to lose my hair to speak about Antonio Conte.”
It is a well known fact that Conte has had a hair transplant. His hairline was visibly receding towards the end of his playing career and he underwent the procedure in Canada after hanging up his boots, reported the Daily Mail.
Mourinho and Conte have had a fractious relationship ever since the Italian moved to the Premier League ahead of the previous season. The two even clashed on the touchline when United visited Stamford Bridge last season. Things got worse when United hijacked Chelsea’s bid for Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku earlier this month and signed him up for £75 million from Everton, which was a record deal between British clubs.
United are also on the verge of signing Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic, according to reports. Asked to comment on the transfer, Mourinho, who had signed Matic said, “I am waiting for news. I know that [Matic] wants that very, very much. When a player wants very, very much, the chance is bigger.”