Antonio Conte has praised Manchester City’s spending power (Picture: Getty)

Antonio Conte has taken a sly dig at his Chelsea board by praising Manchester City and their ‘great’ transfer strategy.

The Italian was furious with his board’s inability to land his targets last summer and Chelsea missed out on the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fernando Llorente.

City, by contrast, landed the likes of Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy, Bernardo Silva and Danilo in a £200million outlay.

Pep Guardiola’s men have an eight-point lead at the top of the table and Conte says the club will be difficult to stop because of their ‘great’ transfer strategy.

City have an eight-point lead at the top of the table (Picture: getty)

‘I must be honest, now they are playing very well and it is very difficult to think that you can catch them,’ said Conte.

‘If they continue in this way it will be very difficult for every team to fight for the title. We have to try to fight until the end. For sure it won’t be easy.

‘Man City were very strong, a very good team last season. This season they work very well in the transfer market and after this it was a team that showed to be very strong. The football is strange, it is very difficult now to predict who will win.

“I think they are having a positive path and it will be difficult for other teams.”

The reality is that Manchester City is a really dangerous team, not just England but the world. They have a fantastic team, a great manager and a great strategy, which they showed in the transfer market.

“Man City will be a great danger for this league and for the world, they can fight and win everything. They are working very well and I am worried because they are working very well.”