Why are footballers obsessed with Salt Bae?
- Published
Honestly, it's a thing. Look at all these footballers hanging out with Salt Bae.
The international break – that unwelcome interloper in the club football calendar – is back once again with a raft of friendlies to try to stir us from sleeping on our various national teams.
Some key questions for fans to answer: Are we going to be any good at the World Cup? What formation will the gaffer go for in Russia? Or, if you didn't qualify, does the new away kit look decent under floodlights?
However, one unexpectedly strong theme emerging already in this international break is just how much footballers love Salt Bae.
Yeah, you know him. The red-meat-caressing, sunglasses-wearing, sharp-knife-wielding man called Nusret Gökçe, who became a meme through his spectacular salt sprinkling technique.
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Whether they’re flying out with their international squad, or they’ve not got the call-up, an unlikely number of Premier League players are using the opportunity to go and hang out with the flamboyant seasoner. Honestly, they’re all at it.
Chelsea quartet Cesc Fabregas, Alvaro Morata, Gary Cahill and Emerson Palmieri were all left out of their respective international squads and they’ve obviously taken that opportunity to indulge in some elaborately seasoned red meat, external.
Not sure whether this was signed off by the club nutritionists – easy on that salt lads!
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Also out in Dubai ahead of Belgium’s clash with Saudi Arabia next week, Kevin De Bruyne popped by to see old Salt Bae. Look at the amount of salt trapped in that man’s forearm hair.
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Here's KDB's Manchester City team-mate Sergio Aguero and former City boss Roberto Mancini, flexing their biceps à la Mr Bae.
Lots of love for Mancini’s enthusiastic effort here: “Am I doing it right lads? Is this how you do a Salt Bae?"
But what is it about this particular internet meme that has caught the imagination of so many celebrities in their own right? Surely they're not travelling thousands of miles, just so that they can get a picture with a man who sprinkles salt on meat in a funny way? Is that a lil, er, salty of us to even imagine?
What's perhaps even more bizarre is that Salt Bae's influence can be felt on the pitch as well as on the table. Since his idiosyncratic way of seasoning meat became a viral sensation last year, a number of meme-savvy players have made that a goal celebration.
Back in January 2017, Danny Welbeck celebrated returning to the Arsenal first team and scoring two against Southampton in the FA Cup by recreating Salt Bae’s famous salty thing.
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Here's Brazilian defender Doria loving a bit of the old Salt Bae while at Marseille.
No one can deny it – Salt Bae is now forever woven into the fabric of football. It seems everyone loves him. Aside from maybe people who are trying to cut down on their sodium intake. And vegetarians.
Either way, Salt Bae's living his best life - he's just hoping the 'season' doesn't end too early... ahem... sorry for that.
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