The Frenchman said that he had “ignored” the latest comments from his Chelsea counterpart to focus on last night’s match against Sparta Prague, but that he was still considering all his options. “If I am attacked, I respond,” he said. “When I think it’s not right, I do that, but for me, I am focused on football, I love football. I just want people to enjoy the game.”

Wenger and Mourinho may not be on speaking terms, but other leading individuals at their respective clubs are determined to make the peace. Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, will phone Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, today in an attempt to resolve the latest bitter dispute between the managers.

The clubs have been at loggerheads since the Ashley Cole “tapping-up” scandal in January, with relations breaking down after the FA Premier League hearing in June, but the hostility has heightened in the past week, with personal insults being traded for the first time. Tired of what he perceives to be constant criticism from Arsenal, Mourinho condemned Wenger as a “voyeur” at the weekend, with the Frenchman hitting back by describing his adversary as “ disrespectful” and “stupid”. Kenyon’s phone call is the first effort to stop such childish name-calling as, aware of the damage being done to the club’s image, he seeks to broker a truce. Kenyon will tell Hill-Wood that there was nothing sinister behind Mourinho’s use of the word “voyeur” and reassure him that everyone at Chelsea wants to put the dispute behind them.

It should be noted, though, that Kenyon’s previous attempts at telephone diplomacy have not been successful. In the aftermath of the Cole affair, he phoned David Dein offering reassurance, but the Arsenal vice-chairman interpreted his conversation as a denial of an approach for the player and branded him a liar.

Hill-Wood, however, who opposed the decision to report Chelsea to the Premier League over Cole, is likely to be more receptive. “Personal gibes are irrelevant and there is no ill-feeling between the Chelsea chairman, Bruce Buck, the Chelsea chief executive, Peter Kenyon, and me,” he said. “We are determined to live as friends.” It is also understood that the FA has contacted both clubs in the hope that the conflict can be resolved.

For all Chelsea’s attempts to move on, Mourinho continues to attract controversy and yesterday came under attack from Samuel Eto’o, the Barcelona forward, who described him as “a piece of s***” before expressing the hope that he will play for Mourinho one day. His agent has some work to do.

Mourinho tried to bring Eto’o to Chelsea last summer before the Cameroon striker signed a new contract at the Nou Camp, but the admiration is not mutual. In his new autobiography, the 24-year-old describes the heated scenes after Chelsea’s Champions League win over Barcelona in February, with Mourinho’s behaviour during the row in the tunnel at the Nou Camp after the first leg fresh in his mind.

“Mourinho has a way of expressing himself that is not pleasant,” Eto’o said. “I told him so in the tunnel. I said to Mourinho, ‘I know you are a great personality and a great coach, but the truth is, you are nothing but a piece of s***.’"

Mourinho is surely too shrewd to respond, but he will be amused by the suggestion that the player could end up at Stamford Bridge. “Mourinho could very well become my manager one day,” Eto’o said.