Antonio Conte was reportedly told by Chelsea not to engage in discussions with Ross Barkley while the club were trying to sign him on deadline day.

The Londoners missed out on the Toffees playmaker after the 23-year-old changed his mind over a £35million switch whilst reportedly having a late medical on Thursday.

It was another transfer blow on what was a tough window for Conte, having missed out on several top targets, including Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who ended up at Liverpool.

And according to Matt Hughes of The Times, Conte was ‘kept out’ of the Barkley negotiations after ‘his unsuccessful talks’ with Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Conte’s ‘failure to speak to’ Barkley was ‘the result of direct instructions’ from the current Premier League champions, Hughes claims.

Hughes adds that Barkley’s decision to turn Chelse down was ‘at least partially influenced by his failure to speak to Conte’.

Barkley ‘had asked to speak to Conte to seek clarification’ over his potential future at Chelsea, but such talks never materialised due to Chelsea’s insistence.

Hughes also says that Barkley did not reject the move during a medical, and instead ‘is believed to have changed his mind about the move en route from Liverpool to London’.

Tottenham are now the favourites to land the England star in January, after he has recovered from a long-term hamstring injury.