Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea reign marked the club’s most successful era – but Vinay Menon’s role in their success is largely unknown.
Indian-born Menon had been conducting wellness classes for celebrities and billionaires out in a hotel in Dubai up until 2008.
But that year, his life was turned upside down.
After the father of Abramovich‘s then-wife Dasha booked in for a session, he was recommended to the wider Abramovich family.
The Russians were that impressed they offered him an opportunity at Cobham.
Menon – who had originally known nothing about football – went on to work for the club for 13 years as the Blues’ Wellness Coach, helping big name stars including then-captain John Terry and Didier Drogba.
Joining talkSPORT’s Hawskbee and Jacobs show, Menon was asked what the players made of him when he arrived at the training ground.
“Initially, they thought I was teaching voodoo or something,” he joked. “They allowed me to go to Chelsea to see how the structure, how the football operations happen, how the treatment happens.
“For the first six months I was just sitting [observing]. In football, it’s very orthodox, no one wants to change anything.”
But it was iconic Blues striker Drogba who got the ball rolling and got the players to welcome Menon’s practices.
He continued: “I still remember, I was having my lunch in the canteen so Didier came and sat near to me.
“He was asking, ‘What do you do? I’ve heard about you, what do you do?,’ all these things. He had some issues so he asked me, ‘Can you do something for me?’ He said, ‘Will it work?’
“I said, ‘Of course it’ll work.’ I always used to say there’s a money back guarantee just as a joke.”
Soon, Terry, Frank Lampard and the rest of the Chelsea players came to him to participate in wellness, yoga and relaxation exercises.
All of Carlo Ancelotti, Rafael Benitez, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and finally Thomas Tuchel worked with Menon, too.
Asked how the managers reacted to him, he remarked: “I worked with the managers very closely. I even trained the managers as well.
“The best managers I always train, because what I always believe is if the leader has a clear vision it’s much easier [to achieve success]. 90 per cent of the managers obeyed with my orders.
“They believed in me. But maybe my character, they always said I was a wellness guru, but I was never a threat to anyone. I brought everyone together.”
During Menon’s time at the club, Chelsea won three Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues.
Quizzed on whether he felt part of that team, he said: “Yes, always. Chelsea was always like a family. When I was working I always got that strong support from my colleagues, especially from the top.”
Abramovich was forced to sell the club following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s arrival in 2022 marked the end of Menon’s time at The Bridge.
Menon was part of a huge cull of Chelsea staff, notably in the medical department.
He then went to work for the Belgium national team under Roberto Martinez for the 2022 World Cup.
Now, after a career break, he’s based in the Middle East and India.
“I would like to see what is happening in that region [with football],” he added. “The Premier League is the best league in the world and it’s still growing.
“If we can push it further in that part of the world, I can create a bridge between these two.”
