[Red Warrior]

Chelsea's midfield makeover looks set to continue following reports that Claude Makelele has been told he can leave the club.

According to The Sun, Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has granted Makelele permission to speak to other clubs – i.e. Paris Saint-Germain, who are intent on signing the 35-year-old.

The Frenchman has been offered the opportunity to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge after an excellent 2007-08 campaign but it is believed he wishes to return to his homeland.

The ex-Real Madrid man's departure would follow that of Steve Sidwell, who recently signed for Aston Villa after failing to make an impact in west London, while Frank Lampard's future remains up in the air.

Makelele and Lampard were integral members of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, and their exits would effectively signal the end of the Special One's reign and the beginning of Scolari's.

 

[ManUtd19]

He's a decent player. All I remember him for is being the player Queiroz didn't want to sell at Real Madrid and the board circumventing the manager's wishes.

 

[frenchie]

Makelele...is a fab player, been great for chelsea...

 

[hafiz_shukri00391]

what makes manutd hard to be chelsea................why??? because of him claude makelele..................he's a really great player he something like roy keane our captain..............................if he really on his way out of chelsea than that's a great news buddy.......

 

[Jazz 16]

Fantastic player. Undervalued at Madrid and they missed him BIG time when
he left for Chelsea. Did wonders at Chelsea, helping the defenders out all
day long. he was a huge part in them winning the League twice, the *******s.

but he has to go Im afraid. They have soo many amazing midfield players, its
frightening.
Ballack, Essien, Lampard (if he stays), Deco...... they even have Mikel, who is
pretty **** and a complete **** but its stil another body.
Some of those players wont be happy being left out.
It will be interesting to see how they play, who they pick etc....

Good luck Maka, at PSG or wherever you end up. Saw him play a few times in
France for my team Nantes over there, before he moved to Spain. great little player.

 

[frenchie]

great little player he defo is..Chelsea will miss him..

 

[Jay007]

No doubt a fantastic player, but hes still a great player now despite his age.

Hes been a massive part of Chelseas success. But I can't help but think hes undervalued.

They will miss him I think, because none of the other defensive midfielders they have are as good as him.

But hopefully they play Essien there, because hes not as effective in that position imo.

 

[frenchie]

Essien is a fab player,big strong and capable of so much..but makelele is soo inspirational to their team..his experience and hard work,will surely be missed by Chelsea.and help us in the long run..

 

[spellbound]

Fantastic player. Undervalued at Madrid and they missed him BIG time when
he left for Chelsea. Did wonders at Chelsea, helping the defenders out all
day long. he was a huge part in them winning the League twice, the *******s.

(..)

Good luck Maka, at PSG or wherever you end up. Saw him play a few times in
France for my team Nantes over there, before he moved to Spain. great little player.

Didnt he go on strike in Real when Beckham arrived? He wanted to to tripple his salary because he didnt think Beckham was three times as good as he was. He was feeling mentally exhausted and played a silly game and ended up in London earning the money he asked for in Madrid.

Also, when they presented Ludovic Giuly in Paris as their new signing they also hinted that Makelele will just pass the medical test before singing a new deal with PSG.

He was a great player.

 

[Jazz 16]

Didnt he go on strike in Real when Beckham arrived? He wanted to to tripple his salary because he didnt think Beckham was three times as good as he was. .

That could have happened. I heard that out of the first 11 he received the
smallest wage, and by some way as well. He did all the donkey work
for the team, which went relatively unnoticed, compared to the 'Galacticos'
who got all the limelight. It was a BIG mistake by Real to let him go. They
suffered on the pitch after he left.

 

[scott 4 evra]

Out of all the big signing Chelski have made I believe that he has been their most important player. When Mourinho brought the 433 system in, he was perfect for the holding role. With Mikel and Essien there, I don't think he will be overly missed. Also one of the very few Chelsea players I like

 

[carlyluvsunited]

He's just signed for Paris St Germaine.

 

[Wazza1989]

astalivsta...sayonara....see ya......we..or i personally won't miss you....you played for two of the most arrogant clubs in the world wich i hate very much..chelski and unreal madrid....so see ya...or ...better not...

 

[Clarky101]

Makelele leaves Chelsea for PSG

Veteran French midfielder Claude Makelele has been released on a free transfer by Chelsea, allowing him to sign for Paris St Germain.

The 35-year-old, who spent five years at Stamford Bridge, will be unveiled by PSG at a news conference on Monday.

"Everyone at Chelsea would like to thank Claude for the service he has given us," said a club statement.

Makelele joined Chelsea from Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2003, costing the Stamford Bridge outfit £16.8m.

He won two Premier League titles and played 217 times for Chelsea, scoring two goals in the process.

Davgroos
The statement added: "Claude has been a key part of our trophy success and we wish him well for the future.

"He will always be welcomed back to Stamford Bridge in the future either as a player or friend of the club."

Makelele's last match for the club was their Champions League final defeat by Manchester United in Moscow in May.

He retired from international football - for the second time - in June after their disappointing exit from Euro 2008, after winning 71 caps.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7516798.stm

 

[spellbound]

That could have happened. I heard that out of the first 11 he received the
smallest wage, and by some way as well. He did all the donkey work
for the team, which went relatively unnoticed, compared to the 'Galacticos'
who got all the limelight. It was a BIG mistake by Real to let him go. They
suffered on the pitch after he left.

I just wonder why he signed that contract with Real if he was paid so little? Sounds like just simple greed. As soon as someone got an improved contract he had to get a raise as well, eh?!

Greed is one of the deadly sins by the Vaticans.

 

[abojodeh]

didnt makaelele wanted to join pompey or something like that
makelele is one of the world best holding midfielders
he was the best player in realmadrid team but he wasnt paid enough and he was underrated by the stupid fans
and when he joined chel$ki he was definitely the team best player
he actually used to defend better than john terry
but he was underrated and underpaid

 

[reddwarf]

A superb player in his prime. One of the best in the World in the defensive midfield position and none better at breaking up the play and playing the simple pass. Never did anything fancy but always got the job done.

Age is catching up with him now though and there are a lot of quality midfield players at Chelsea these days. However, if he signs for a Ligue 1 side I reckon he'll still be an asset to them for another 2 or 3 seasons.

 

[Jazz 16]

I just wonder why he signed that contract with Real if he was paid so little? Sounds like just simple greed. As soon as someone got an improved contract he had to get a raise as well, eh?!
:

Not sure if it was all about greed tbh. He was there week in week out doing
the team's 'dirty work'. He was widely acknowledged by his fellow players
to be an integral part of the team, yet he received FAR less than anyone else.
He questioned this and was point blankly refused any sort of wage rise
to be on parity with some of the clubs players......so he left, which is fair enough
in my eyes.

He's off to PSG as thought, and I wish him well. He still has a few seasons in
him yet.

 

[Jay007]

Not sure if it was all about greed tbh. He was there week in week out doing
the team's 'dirty work'. He was widely acknowledged by his fellow players
to be an integral part of the team, yet he received FAR less than anyone else.
He questioned this and was point blankly refused any sort of wage rise
to be on parity with some of the clubs players......so he left, which is fair enough
in my eyes.

Great post as usual by Jazz.

Hes a great player who is so undervalued.

 

[OlesBodyguard]

That could have happened. I heard that out of the first 11 he received the
smallest wage, and by some way as well. He did all the donkey work
for the team, which went relatively unnoticed, compared to the 'Galacticos'
who got all the limelight. It was a BIG mistake by Real to let him go. They
suffered on the pitch after he left.

The philosophy at the Bernabeu during that period, unfortunately would never permit Makelele to receive the sort of wages he felt he deserved, as their wage structure was far too constricted by their flashy attackers. This 'Galactico' philosophy, it may be said, was Madrid's big 'mistake', and there were many negative implications of it.

Yes, one of them is that, in the end, Makelele had to go on unofficial strike to force Madrid to cave in to Chelsea's 16 million pound bid for him. But from the beginning of that transfer, Madrid certainly were not 'allowing' or 'permitting' or 'letting' Makelele leave.

But beyond this, Madrid spent aeons in replacing Makelele's defensive midfield position with any sort of quality: Diarra. The first replacement was David Beckham, who was obviously never going to fit into such a role, and he was then followed by that Danish genius Thomas Gravesen. Such things should be considered, along with Barcelona's continued development, before analysing how much Makelele's loss caused Madrid to suffer.