After four years as a promoter and mentor of young talent, ex-player Claude Makelele is leaving Chelsea FC. The Frenchman is aiming for other things
Troubled times at Chelsea FC, 14th in the Premier League, always have an impact on personnel decisions. Claude Makelele, once a master player at Stamford Bridge, has now decided to leave the Blues, who are still in crisis. He confirmed this himself.
The Frenchman, now 50, had been a technical mentor for young players at CFC since August 2019, always providing feedback and advice, who also accompanied and visited the numerous loan players on their wards.
The decision to part ways was reportedly amicable, with Makelele seeking “a fresh, new challenge”. The time has come for that. The Champions League winner with Real Madrid (2002) succeeds former interim coach Bruno Saltor, who turned his back on the club after only a few months as assistant to new head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Sometimes coach, sometimes co, sometimes director
For Makelele, the longest stint in life comes to an end after his active career, which he ended at Paris St. Germain in 2011. He then went straight into coaching at PSG for two years before taking over as boss on the sidelines at Bastia – and being sacked in 2014 after less than six months.
In 2016 he was briefly technical director at AS Monaco, and in 2017 he was again assistant coach to Paul Clement at Swansea City – as he had been at PSG. Makelele then had more success as a head coach at Eupen in Belgium, which he left of his own volition in 2019 for the Chelsea FC role. What happens next for the former world-class six is still unclear.
