Jose Mourinho fell victim to a hilarious prank on Wednesday evening.
After returning to the Lowry Hotel, where he lives, Mourinho was approached by an Italian TV crew who were granted a few questions with the Manchester United manager.
Following the interview, Mourinho kindly agreed to sign a folded United jersey.
Once the autograph was finished, the film crew unfolded the shirt and revealed that the Red Devils boss had actually signed a jersey with “Antonio Conte 1” on the back.
https://twitter.com/utdxtra/status/953696035217510400
Luckily, Mourinho saw the funny side of the prank and even posed for some photographs in which he held the top aloft.
Over the past fortnight, Mourinho and Conte have been engaged in a bitter war of words.
Having spent a good portion of last season exchanging abuse via the media, the battle reared its ugly head again at the turn of the year, when Mourinho said: “You don’t have to behave like a crazy guy on the touchline.”
Conte hit back by accusing the United boss of hypocrisy, suggesting that Mourinho had forgotten that he has raucously celebrated goals and wins before.
Then things got ugly…
“What never happened to me – and will never happen – is to be suspended for match-fixing. That never happened to me and will never happen,” Mourinho said, referencing claims that Conte was aware of some nefarious goings-on during his time in charge of Siena and didn’t alert the relevant authorities.
Conte then branded the Portuguese “a little man” before menacingly claiming that he wouldn’t forget Mourinho’s comments.
Last Friday, Mourinho insisted that he had nothing left to say about the Chelsea manager.
“No, I think when a person insults another you can expect a response,” Mourinho said.
“Or you can expect contempt, silence. The first time he insulted me I had a response, a response that I know that touched the point where he really feels hurt.
“Then he insulted me for a second time but now I change and now contempt and for me, contempt means the end of the story.”
