Chelsea players face having several foods banned under new manager Enzo Maresca

Chelsea players will likely be introduced to a strict training ground menu under Enzo Maresca and his team of coaches, with several foods in danger of being cut.

Maresca, who guided Leicester City to Premier League promotion in 2023/24, was recently appointed head coach of Chelsea following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino.

The 44-year-old will officially start work on July 1, with six members of his backroom staff joining him in west London – Willy Caballero, Danny Walker, Michele De Bernardin, Javi Molina, Roberto Vitiello and Marcos Alvarez.

Alvarez, an experienced fitness coach, is expected to bring a strict diet to Cobham after earning a reputation at former clubs Spurs, Sevilla, Parma and Leicester for his methods.

In fact, Alvarez is said to have banned salt and pepper, fruit juice, sauce and cake from the menu when he was working under Juande Ramos at Spurs – and even made the team lose a combined 100kg.

Enzo Maresca and Marcos Alvarez during their time at Leicester. Image credit: Getty

Jamie O'Hara and Darren Bent, who played at Spurs when Alvarez was part of the coaching staff in 2007, opened up about their diet under his guidance.

They even went as far as making secret trips to McDonalds.

"When Juande Ramos came in, he banned ketchup and any sauce. He was big on it. It was dry pasta, chicken and that was for the whole time he was there," O'Hara told talkSPORT.

"We went on a pre-season trip and that was tough when there’s no sauce to anything. You’re just eating dry chicken and pasta.

"I remember the security guy, Alan Dixon who is still there now, used to sneak the boys out and get McDonald’s."

Bent added: "There was one meat option, one fish, and maybe plain rice and vegetables - that was it. There was no salt, no pepper… no flavour! There was no crumble, either.

“There was also dry pasta — a pasta option with no sauce. You try and eat pasta with no sauce. Pasta, no sauce, no salt or pepper, not even a tomato.

"Even our captain, Ledley King, was like ‘Listen gaffer, we’re struggling here, what’s up with this food?’ Honestly, it was tough. The food was really tough to eat."

The Spaniard is believed to have stripped fried eggs from the breakfast buffet at Leicester, according to the Telegraph.

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