Gary Lineker fears 'silly jokes' sparked shock feud with 'offish' Jose Mourinho - with former England striker admitting 'there's definitely something' annoying ex-Chelsea & Man Utd boss

Former England captain Lineker, who is preparing to step down as Match of the Day host after 25 years in that role, once enjoyed a positive professional relationship with ex-Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager Mourinho.

Much to his surprise, there has been a breakdown of sorts in more recent times. Lineker was snubbed for presenting duties when Mourinho was lined up for a GQ award. Contact has been made since then, but "there’s definitely something" that is still not right.

Lineker has told the BBC Match of the Day Top 10 Podcast of falling out of favour with the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’: "He doesn’t love me anymore. I’ve definitely upset him, I don’t know why. He used to text me saying he loves the show and he watches the show. But then GQ got in touch with me to give him an award, and then the day before GQ messaged me saying he’d prefer to get it from someone who isn’t in football.

"I asked him and said ‘are we ok?’ He was offish, and I thought there was something wrong. He stopped talking to me after that. Then he went to United and he was offish. Maybe I did one of my silly jokes. I tried to kiss and make up recently, I got his number and sent him a message, he didn’t blank me, he replied with a hug, but there’s definitely something."

Lineker, who went his entire playing career without receiving a yellow card, is considered to be one of the nicest men in football. Mourinho clearly has a bone to pick, though, with the outspoken 62-year-old now working in Turkey with Super Lig giants Fenerbahce.