- Ex-chef shares Man City insight
- Gundogan’s diet routine stood out
- Elite football discipline explained
A former private chef who worked with several Manchester City stars has revealed a remarkable insight into the eating habits of former club captain Ilkay Gundogan during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
Nutrition and recovery have become increasingly important in modern football. The focus is particularly visible at elite clubs that want their players to eat only the right food.
Likewise, footballers are often given highly detailed meal plans to help them maximise performance across the demanding season.
Following this trend, many players have become extremely disciplined in their diet and recovery routines, and it is no different at Man City.
Talking to talkSPORT, a private chef who worked with multiple players at the Etihad shared his experience cooking for Premier League footballers.
Gundogan reportedly avoided repeating meals for 10 months
Johnny Marsh, who has over a decade of experience cooking for elite footballers, spoke on the HTWTWC podcast.
The British Chef’s first high-profile client was Kevin De Bruyne. The very first time Marsh met the Belgian was on Christmas Day, when he cooked for 18 people.
Marsh went on to impress six or seven City players in the next six weeks, who ultimately hired him. However, Ilkay Gundogan stood out considering the German’s demands.
“The only player that I would say there was more of a relationship with him was Ilkay Gundogan. I really got on with Ilkay,” Marsh told HTWTWC.
He added: “Ilkay wanted something different every single day, and we had a 10-month period where he didn’t have the same thing for 10 months.”
Erling Haaland prefers cooking for himself
Despite cooking for multiple Man City players, Marsh didn’t get the opportunity to cook for the Sky Blues’ goal machine, Erling Haaland.
The private chef mentioned that Haaland cooks for himself. In a previous interview, the Norwegian striker had also revealed that his cheat meal was kebab pizza.
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t. He [Haaland] cooks for himself”, Marsh said when asked if he ever cooked for Haaland.
Guardiola will hope players remain disciplined in final stretch
The insane standards at top clubs are clearly paying off, with players getting better at handling injuries and recovery.
This becomes even more important for Man City in the last stretch of the season. Guardiola will be hoping that his players don’t cheat, considering the lack of depth at the Etihad right now.
Rodri, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiola continue to recover while the Citizens have six more games to play in 20 days with no margin for error.
