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 surprisingly have chess to thank for their tactical brilliance.

The bosses of Manchester City and Chelsea have both methodically drilled their players on how to keep possession using clever movement and a detailed understanding of the game.

Interestingly, their setups have been inspired by chess and one man in particular – Magnus Carlsen.

The 33-year-old is a five-time world champion and is widely regarded as one of the best grandmasters ever.

But away from the board, Carlsen is huge football fan and has influenced some of the world’s best players and coaches with his thinking.

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

Liverpool legend Mo Salah has called himself “addicted” to the game and has namechecked Carlsen as the man he most wants pit his wits against.

The Norwegian has already demolished Alexander-Arnold in 17 moves and he has wiped the floor with Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard.

This huge love for chess may come as a surprise – but there is method to the madness.

Guardiola studied the genius of Carlsen after leaving Barcelona in 2012 and says it helped him become a better tactician.

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He said via the book Pep Confidential: “You have no idea how similar the two things are.

“There was one thing Carlsen said that I loved. He said that it doesn’t matter if he has to make some sacrifices at the start of the game because he knows he is strongest in the latter stages.

“It got me thinking and I must learn how I can apply it to football.”

Carlsen and Guardiola previously did an interview together with Puma, in which the grandmaster said: “In chess and football, the important thing is to control the middle.

“If you control the middle, you control the pitch or the board.

“Another thing is that in chess, you attack on one side, so you overload, and then you switch so you have an advantage on the other side. In terms of space, it’s remarkably similar.”

Maresca wrote a tactical thesis long before he was Chelsea‘s boss and compared much of his thinking to chess.

He explained: “A coach can only benefit from acquiring the mind of a good chess player. I concluded that playing chess can train the mind of a coach.

“The fundamental element of chess is the logic that leads a player to understand and thus predict the opponents’ moves.

“The chess board is like a football pitch that can be divided into three channels — a central one and two external ones.

“In football, as in chess, an inside game can be more interesting as it is the quickest and most direct towards goal or the king.”

For now, Carlsen is focused on winning the upcoming Global Chess League, which would pocket his team $1million.

But he has his eyes also set on playing against Salah, telling The Observer: “I’ve not met him yet but I would certainly love to – as well as other sports people who I admire who play chess.

“Odegaard plays a little bit. He was playing a lot for a while and then not so much. He’s not a bad player, but he’s kind of private about it.”