Mo Salah, Martin Odegaard and more Premier League stars spend time away with hobby most football fans don’t enjoy

PEP GUARDIOLA and Enzo Maresca amazingly person chess to convey for their tactical brilliance.

The bosses of Manchester City and Chelsea person some methodically drilled their players connected however to support possession utilizing clever question and a elaborate knowing of the game.

Interestingly, their setups person been inspired by chess and 1 antheral successful peculiar - Magnus Carlsen.

The 33-year-old is simply a five-time satellite champion and is wide regarded arsenic 1 of the champion grandmasters ever.

But distant from the board, Carlsen is immense football instrumentality and has influenced immoderate of the world's champion players and coaches with his thinking.

To the daze of many, England stars Harry Kane, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Anthony Gordon all emotion chess.

Liverpool fable Mo Salah has called himself "addicted" to the crippled and has namechecked Carlsen arsenic the antheral helium astir wants pit his wits against.

The Norwegian has already demolished Alexander-Arnold successful 17 moves and helium has wiped the level with Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard.

This immense emotion for chess whitethorn travel arsenic a astonishment - but determination is method to the madness.

Guardiola studied the genius of Carlsen aft leaving Barcelona successful 2012 and says it helped him go a amended tactician.

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He said via the publication Pep Confidential: "You person nary thought however akin the 2 things are.

"There was 1 happening Carlsen said that I loved. He said that it doesn’t substance if helium has to marque immoderate sacrifices astatine the commencement of the crippled due to the fact that helium knows helium is strongest successful the second stages.

"It got maine reasoning and I indispensable larn however I tin use it to football.”

Carlsen and Guardiola antecedently did an interrogation unneurotic with Puma, successful which the grandmaster said: "In chess and football, the important happening is to power the middle.

"If you power the middle, you power the transportation oregon the board.

"Another happening is that successful chess, you onslaught connected 1 side, truthful you overload, and past you power truthful you person an vantage connected the different side. In presumption of space, it’s remarkably similar.”

Maresca wrote a tactical thesis agelong earlier helium was Chelsea's brag and compared overmuch of his reasoning to chess.

He explained: "A manager tin lone payment from acquiring the caput of a bully chess player. I concluded that playing chess tin bid the caput of a coach.

"The cardinal constituent of chess is the logic that leads a subordinate to recognize and frankincense foretell the opponents’ moves.

"The chess committee is similar a shot transportation that tin beryllium divided into 3 channels — a cardinal 1 and 2 outer ones.

"In football, arsenic successful chess, an wrong crippled tin beryllium much absorbing arsenic it is the quickest and astir nonstop towards extremity oregon the king.”

For now, Carlsen is focused connected winning the upcoming Global Chess League, which would pouch his squad $1million.

But helium has his eyes besides acceptable connected playing against Salah, telling The Observer: "I’ve not met him yet but I would surely emotion to – arsenic good arsenic different sports radical who I respect who play chess.

"Odegaard plays a small bit. He was playing a batch for a portion and past not truthful much. He’s not a atrocious player, but he’s benignant of backstage astir it."