Claude Makélélé

Claude Makélélé arrived from Real Madrid in the summer of 2003 for £16.8 million, one of the first big signings of the Abramovich era. In Madrid the spotlight had been on the galácticos. In London people quickly worked out who held the keys.

He played 217 games in five seasons and scored just twice, because his job was something else. He sat in front of the defence, won the ball, closed the lanes and gave it simply to Lampard. He did it so well that English football still calls it ‘the Makélélé role’.

At Chelsea he won two league titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups and the 2005 Community Shield. In the 95-point season he was one of the most important parts of the machine. His team-mates voted him Players’ Player of the Year in 2006.

Because his goals were so rare, everyone remembers one. On 5 November 2006 against Tottenham, Makélélé caught a difficult volley from the edge of the box and curled it beyond the goalkeeper. The ground reacted as if it were a cup final.

He left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2008, but never really left. He later returned to the club in coaching and mentoring roles with young players. Fans put him in the 120th-anniversary XI, in the position that bears his name.

Sources

• Chelsea FC — Team of 120 (the ‘Makelele role’, shielding the back four for Mourinho)
• Wikipedia — List of Chelsea F.C. players (217 apps / 2 goals)
• Wikipedia — Claude Makélélé (2003 transfer, Tottenham goal in November 2006, honours)
• Chelsea FC — Makélélé returns in a coaching role (his later return to the club)
• Wikimedia Commons — Claude Mak%C3%A9l%C3%A9l%C3%A9.jpg (photo: Mark Freeman from Hornchurch, UK, CC BY 2.0)