Pasta and chicken.Those are the two foods that come to mind when you think about a footballer’s diet.However, more and more players appear to be turning vegan in an attempt to get the very best out of themselves.It’s something that Manchester United’s Chris Smalling has spoken about on numerous occasions.“Now I’ve gone fully vegan and normally the start of pre-season can be quite a tough time, but I haven’t felt it at all," Smalling said."At first, I was half and half, so I was cutting out red meat but still eating other meat. But then the missus throws a lot of documentaries at you and it opens your eyes a little bit in terms of different industries and that persuaded me to go full vegan.

“Since then I’ve played a lot of games. Normally the second day after a game would be the worst. I would feel very tired, but I felt like I was recovering very quickly. In terms of the vegan diet there were a lot of factors that helped with that and I was able to keep banging out games without being too sore."

Another player that attempted to go vegan was Bayern Munich Serge Gnabry.

Earlier this year, the former Arsenal man explained his decision.

"At the moment I’m enjoying it, I’m feeling well as well," Gnabry told German outlet BILD. "I had conversations with friends, watched documentaries. I just want to give it a try. I don’t know whether it’ll last forever. The chefs at the DFB and Bayern know."

However, in a recent interview, it seems the midfielder hasn’t quite got the hang of being vegan.

"I have been vegan since January, but sometimes I eat meat and other things. It may be that I pull it off completely again," he confessed.

His rather funny comment has led to lots of football fans taking the mickey out of him with similar made-up anecdotes.

Poor old, Gnabry.