Chelsea players are put on a strict diet under fitness coach Marcos Alvarez, who even banned salt and pepper at Tottenham.

The Chelsea squad could say goodbye to their taste buds for the foreseeable future under their new coaching team.

The Blues have signed Enzo Maresca on a five-year deal, with the Italian becoming the club’s sixth manager following the club’s takeover under Todd Boehly in 2022.

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And the 44-year-old took fitness trainer Marcos Alvarez to Stamford Bridge with him from the King Power Stadium following their successful 2023/24 season which saw Leicester win the championship.

While it is understood that the Blues stars are enthusiastic about Maresca’s style of play, they might be less enthusiastic about the shake-up in their diet.

Alvarez gained a reputation as a strict dietitian through his spells working at Tottenham, Sevilla, Parma and Leicester.

According to the Daily Telegraph, he was the 53-year-old who banned salt, pepper, sauces, cakes and fruit juices during his stay in north London.

Meanwhile, he removed fried eggs from the menu during his only season in the Midlands with the Foxes because they were cooked in butter or oil, which increases the saturated fat content.

It has been claimed that under the tutelage of Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea players were allowed to eat treats.

And they were also able to taste salt and pepper, as well as fruit juices and table sauces.

But they could now be taken off the menu when those not on international duty this summer return from vacation on July 4.

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One player all too familiar with Alvarez’s diet is talkSPORT co-host Darren Bent, who worked with the Spaniard when he was part of Juande Ramos’ coaching staff at Tottenham between 2007 and 2008. .

Despite the team winning the League Cup – the club’s only trophy in the last 16 years – he admitted they had struggled to deal with the blandness.

This led skipper Ledley King to plead for a relaxation of the strict regime, which has seen some players consume a cheeky McDonald’s on the sly.

Bent revealed: “There was a meat option, a fish, and maybe some plain rice and vegetables – that was it. There was no salt, no pepper… no flavor! There was no There was no crumble either.

“When you train in the morning you have lunch at the training ground, which is usually not that great, and then you get on a coach and get to the hotel and you think: ‘I’m a bit I’ “I’m hungry, I can’t wait for dinner” and there’s just dry rice…

“There was also dry pasta – a pasta option without sauce. You try to eat pasta without sauce… you have to go! Pasta, no sauce, no salt or pepper, not even a tomato!

“Dried pasta, dry chicken, plain vegetables… and no crumble. People tried, people told him: “Listen, Juande, people have trouble…”

“Even our captain Ledley King was saying, ‘Look, gaffer, we’re struggling here, what’s going on with this food?'”

Before adding: “Honestly, it was hard. The food was really hard to eat. This sounds really silly, but honestly, it was really hard. »