Former Real dietician Itziar Gonzalez de Arriba // Photo: football-espana.net
Gonzalez has sued the Creamers, accusing the club’s medical staff of professional defamation. She also claims that she was systematically harassed. The nutritionist resigned from the club after almost five years of working there.
Mbappe’s injury was the “last straw”
Gonzalez’s conflict with the Royal Club’s medical staff escalated after Kylian Mbappe’s recent injury. The star striker was prescribed the wrong treatment, confusing his right leg with his left. The footballer refused to be treated at Real, turning to outside specialists.
The nutritionist publicly advised the club to engage “competent specialists rather than ignorant narcissists”, hinting at the ineffectiveness of footballers’ recovery methods. She criticized the medical staff’s reliance on ChatGPT advice to prescribe supplements.
Amid the Mbappe scandal, Real’s management suspended the medical staff. Niko Mihic, who had previously worked at Real, took over as head of the medical department.
Bullying because of ChatGPT and more
Tensions between Gonzalez and his colleagues rose in December 2025, when two players went directly to club president Florentino Perez and told him about the improvement in their condition after a nutritionist made changes to their diet. “The fact that the players are talking about it and attributing it to changes in their diet has caused unbearable hostility from medical staff and canteen workers,” she was quoted as saying by Marca.
During her time at Real, according to the plaintiff, colleagues tried to make her look crazy in front of management when she, aware of the medical staff’s use of ChatGPT, opposed the prescription of nutritional supplements to treat soccer players. Gonzalez said physical therapists ridiculed her and the director of human resources threatened to ruin her reputation by taking her to court.
The lawsuit also reveals that the nutritionist was barred from contact with soccer players and restricted access to a training base in Valdebebas, northeast of Madrid. In addition, she has been accused of stealing nutritional supplements.
There is no word on the reaction of Real’s management to the news of the lawsuit.
