My Chelsea team played more entertaining football than Antonio Conte's, says Jose Mourinho

The Manchester United manager believes his Chelsea side were more entertaining

Mourinho added that he was delighted with his new side's transfer business (Getty)

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has claimed that his Chelsea team played better football than Antonio Conte’s title-winners.

Mourinho returned for a second spell in charge of Chelsea in 2013, winning the Premier League title for a third time with the club two years later.

Despite their success, his team were criticised for their defensive, low-risk style of football, scoring ten goals less than second-place Manchester City.

But in an interview with The Times, Mourinho has claimed that his team played more exciting football compared to Conte’s title winners or Leicester City, who won the league under Claudio Ranieri in the 2015/16 season.

“For me, let’s be honest and objective. The last three Premier League champions — Chelsea with Mourinho, Leicester with [Claudio] Ranieri, Chelsea with [Antonio] Conte — which of these teams was the most offensive one?” he said. “Which played more quality football? It was mine. But nobody says.”

The Manchester United manager also expressed his delight at how shrewdly United operated in the transfer market this summer.

“I think we were very clever,” he added. “We thought that something could happen that could change the market forever. Normally the last part of the market is less expensive, but this season, after Neymar [left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record £199 million deal], everything changed — and changed for the worse in terms of prices.

“I think Lukaku on August 31 would have been £150 million. Matic would have been £60 million or £70 million. Neymar changed everything. If the biggest transfer in history had still been Pogba, I think Philippe Coutinho [the Liverpool playmaker] would now be in Barcelona at £101 million.

“People look to the £200 million figure now. Now the players of £20 million became £40 million, the players of £40 million became £60 million and everything changed. Lukaku and Matic, now, would have cost us £200 million in total.

“But because we did it in the first part of the summer, it was much less. I think we did well in financial terms and well in preparation terms, getting them before the season started. That is not crucial but it is important.”