Why football players need private chefs right now

Footballers today are subject to a tight schedule and are often forced to play every three or four days, especially when it comes to teams that participate in all competitions until the end of the season. For this reason, nutrition becomes one of the central issues in the daily routine of a footballer, who cannot afford “excesses” and must also follow an ironclad diet in private to maximise results and recovery in the few hours between matches. In this way, nutrition becomes increasingly important for an athlete, and so new professionals are called in: private chefs.

These are often professionals who have decided to leave the world of traditional cuisine to work on a day-to-day basis with a very specific clientele who are forced to follow a healthy and quality diet. And as is so often the case in today's world, social media, and TikTok in particular, are the ideal tool for making yourself known to a wider audience and attracting new potential customers.

The secret of success

For years, TikTok has been the social medium of choice for those looking to break into the world of cooking, and the secret to the private chefs' success is not limited to their qualities in the kitchen, but also allows viewers to immerse themselves in the lives and kitchens of their favourite footballers for a few minutes. Footballers' homes have always been almost immaculate places that are rarely filmed and posted on social media. This is precisely one of the secrets to the success of some chefs, such as Diogo Prego, Ruben Dias' private chef in Manchester. The chef has managed to attract millions of viewers in addition to his qualities in the kitchen without explicitly showing the Manchester City champion in his videos. At the same time, however, he has taken us into the Portuguese champion's kitchen, showing a complete behind-the-scenes look at the preparations, the footballer's diet and even the clean-up after the job is done.

Another example is Mario Sorrentino, also known as IMieiPiatti, the private chef of Scott McTominay in Naples, who takes us into the kitchen of the former Manchester United champion every day in his videos, or The Big Chef in England, who works with some Chelsea players and reveals some details of the London life of the Premier League champions in his videos. In short, a trend that is on the rise.

Gordon Lenni's meal plans

While the aforementioned chefs work at the players' homes and dedicate themselves virtually full-time to a single player, chef Leonardo Cannavale, also known as Gordon Lenni, instead thought to optimise the work and developed “meal plans” for the players. Around 40 Serie A and Serie B players have relied on Leonardo, including Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram, Santi Gimenez, Carlos Augusto, Alessandro Bastoni, as well as tennis players such as Jasmine Paolini, Fabio Fognini and Sara Errani. A new but extremely innovative way of enabling athletes to eat a healthy and balanced diet even when they are not training. But what exactly are meal plans? We had Leonardo himself explain it to us: “Meal plans are weekly meal plans. They are created ad hoc based on the needs of each athlete, in some cases with the help of a nutritionist, who can either be that of their club or a private individual. Normally, the players get breakfast and lunch at the sports centre, while dinner is free. Here, I mainly take care of dinner and the afternoon snack so that I always have something to hand.”

But how does the food delivery work? “For those who live in or around Milan, I even deliver the meals personally a couple of times a week, for those who live outside, once a week. This way they can eat healthy, wholesome food and I think the clubs can also benefit from it.” Nevertheless, the way footballers eat is still a long way off, especially in Italy. “There is still a lot to do,” adds Gordon Lenni, “because few clubs offer a service outside the sports centre and the players have to cater for themselves. So many of them don't have a private chef at home, whereas things work differently abroad and especially in the Premier League.”

According to Leonardo, today's young players seem to be more attentive to the subject than in the past: “I've noticed it, the new generation is better prepared, almost all the players I follow are between 20 and 25, and lately the clubs are constantly working with nutritionists and professionals. But it's a fundamental issue, because nutrition and football are closely linked. Santi Gimenez of AC Milan, for example, changes his diet in consultation with his nutritionist depending on his weekly plan. As the game approaches, he increases his carbohydrate intake and reduces his protein intake.”

And then, of course, social media, the additional weapon for Leonardo to make himself known to an ever wider audience: “They are fundamental, thanks to reposts of stories, players see me and contact me, also thanks to word of mouth, of course. I know that players are talking to each other about my service and that is very gratifying. It also often happens that some people take their cue from the stories about the dishes I prepare and send me specific requests based on the dishes I have prepared for other players.”

If a private chef is dedicated to a single player, Gordon Lenni is now looking to expand into Italy and even abroad, growing his business and capitalising on a movement that is clearly growing. It is important that nutrition takes centre stage more and more in the coming years, as this is the only way players can better look after themselves and perform at a high level despite the gradual and inexorable increase in the number of games each season.