Celebrity master chef! Jonny Marsh whips up meals for De Bruyne, Gundogan, Pogba

Jonny Marsh was up at 3am on Sunday, busy juggling Tupperware. The Premier League needs feeding and a fair number of its big names are relying on the personal chef who started at Michelin-starred kitchens but now devotes his weeks to some of the country’s best footballers.

Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden are the clients at Manchester City. Ben Chilwell at Leicester, Jarrod Bowen at West Ham. Some at Southampton, Bournemouth, Tottenham and Chelsea are on the list as well.

Marsh normally whips up dishes at the homes of De Bruyne and Gundogan each day. Not at the moment, though.

The preparation and distribution side of his business has taken on additional importance.

Sunday is when the stars are delivered their meals for the week — as many as four a day — with Marsh and his two chefs working overnight before drivers set off to all corners later that morning.

‘There are players who come in and out when they want a bit of help, or want to put on muscle mass,’ said Marsh.

‘You get different requests from everybody, which is nice.

‘Everybody is bespoke, it’s not as if you are clicking on a menu saying, “I want this, this and this”. It’s personal.

‘There are always variations, which keeps us on our toes.

‘Some players might come to me through the club, needing a little bit of help with an iron deficiency. For others it’s convenient, or they have dietary requirements.

‘We’re using the science to make things nutritionally better, they are still getting what they need during this situation.

‘I speak to the club nutritionists to a degree. Many of them let me crack on. It gives you that freedom. I think there is an element of trust.’

Players are doing home gym programmes during lockdown.

Diets have altered slightly as a result, carbohydrates reduced. De Bruyne might not be enjoying the dinner coined ‘Kevin’s carbonara’ quite as often until the suspension is lifted.

The debate over flavours and tastes with Gundogan has been put on hold for now. ‘My favourite jobs (before this) were the private ones on the yachts, I love that interaction with people,’ added Marsh.

‘You see people eat your food and I wanted to try to commercialise the private stuff.

‘Ilkay’s my guinea pig. He’ll try anything once — except for coriander. We always have a bit of a laugh. Every single day is a first-timer with him, something I’ve never cooked before.

‘Being creative and doing something a little different is always on with Ilkay. We have this ongoing joke where he calls all my food rubbish, which means it’s actually nice and he likes it! So when I don’t get slagged off, I’m wondering what’s gone wrong.

‘One day I’m doing sushi, then salt-baked cod, or a roasted red pepper veggie falafel burger.

‘Ilkay tells me stories of growing food when he was younger. It’s made me realise more about the English culture we grew up in. We all had smiley faces and turkey twizzlers at school.

‘For players who’ve come from Spain, France or even as far as Turkey like Ilkay, their food culture is a lifestyle. Ours is fuel. I think that’s definitely changing. Our outlook on food now is completely different from five years ago.’

Marsh, who has cooked for Manchester United’s Paul Pogba too, made his first foray into football catering with De Bruyne in 2016. City’s player-liaison officer called after the occasional dinner booked in the chairman’s suite at the Etihad Stadium.

De Bruyne and Marsh worked closely during his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury last season.

Marsh recalled: ‘His work with City and his mentality were obviously the driving forces but nutrition does come into it, helping him get back quicker. Maybe I helped five per cent.

‘The meal preparation side has taken over from the private chef work now. We’re doing it for players in the Championship and looking at one or two abroad in France and Sweden. Let’s see if Mbappe wants some food!’