However, the Frenchman has refused to participate in a fresh war or words with Mourinho and says he will not be reading the book which includes the warning.
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Managers Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger have never been buds.
Antonio Conte has warned his players that Chelsea’s impressive recent record against Arsenal will count for nothing when the two teams meet at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
One extract, serialised in the Daily Mail, claims that Mourinho, then in charge of Chelsea, received messages from an unnamed Arsenal player during the 2014/15 season.
“I haven’t read the book and certainly will not read it”, he told a media conference. I am more constructive and I comment on that. I’m not in a destructive mode, never.
“I can not comment on that because I am focused on tomorrow’s game and on the way we play football”.
“What is incredible is that has nothing to do with our game tomorrow”. “I want my players to play with his character and their personality”, he said. I respect everybody in our game and don’t feel I comment a lot on other teams.
“And again, I don’t think the book will be in the gallery of the Shakespeares and so on and I prefer just to not comment”.
Asked if he thought his relationship with Mourinho could turn cordial one day – like his previous rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson – Wenger said: “It always finishes like that”.
‘The following January Wenger spoke out about Chelsea’s plans to sell star midfielder Juan Mata to Manchester United for £37million.
“He is doing well, because they have started very strong”, added Wenger. “It’s going to be a big occasion but we can’t get too caught up in it, we just need to go out and play our game”. “Discipline and results are strongly linked and the regret from the past two games is we could not play with 11 against 11”. “But I am a bit more cautious [with him] than I would be”.
Wenger was a near-unknown in England and few who witnessed his unveiling at Highbury – blue blazer, red club tie – could have predicted he would be the man to redefine the club.
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“We have four days to prepare for the game, let’s focus on that now”, Wenger said after Tuesday’s victory at the City Ground.
