Background and career
Claude Makélélé Sinda (French pronunciation: [klod makele'le]; born 18 February 1973) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He last managed Super League Greece club Asteras Tripolis. Regarded as one of the greatest defensive midfielders of all time, Makélélé has been credited with redefining the defensive midfield role in English football, especially during the 2004–05 FA Premier League season, where he played a key role in helping Chelsea win the title with 95 points. In homage, the defensive midfield position is sometimes colloquially known as the "Makélélé Role". In his playing career, which ended at Paris Saint-Germain, Makélélé also played for Nantes, Marseille, Celta Vigo, Real Madrid and Chelsea. He won league titles in France, Spain and England, as well as the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League during his time with Real Madrid. Furthermore, Makélélé was once selected in the FIFPRO Men's World 11 while playing for Chelsea. Born in Zaire, Makélélé was a French international for 13 years and was part of the France national team which reached the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also represented his nation at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, two UEFA European Championships and the 1996 Summer Olympics. After retiring from playing, Makélélé went into coaching and technical staff roles. He has been manager at Bastia, Eupen and Asteras Tripolis; assistant manager at Paris Saint-Germain and Swansea; a youth coach and technical mentor at Chelsea; and technical director at Monaco.
Makélélé was born in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). "Makélélé" means "noises" in Lingala, one of the languages spoken in the country. He moved to Savigny-le-Temple, a suburb of Paris in Seine-et-Marne, in 1977, when he was four years old. His father, André-Joseph Makélélé, was also a football player. He represented DR Congo, and ended his career in the third division of Belgium with Union Royale Namur. At age 15, Makélélé signed for Sporting Melun-Dammarie 77. He played one year there, and left at the age of 16, when he joined the training centre of Brest-Armorique in Brittany. Despite maturing in Brest, but it was in the city of Nantes where he would sign a professional contract. Makélélé was recruited by Nantes in December 1991, when he was still 18 years old. Robert Budzynski, Nantes' sporting director, stated that once he had discovered Makélélé in Brest, he was sure he would become the new Emmanuel Petit. At the beginning of the 1992–93 season, Makélélé was already in the Nantes first-team, then playing in the French first division. He played at Nantes for five seasons, winning the French championship in 1995 and helped the club to the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League the following season. This earned him a move to Marseille for whom he played for one season.
Makélélé was transferred to Celta Vigo where he spent two successful seasons at the Galician club. While playing alongside Aleksandr Mostovoi, Valeri Karpin, Haim Revivo and Míchel Salgado, Celta achieved historic victories such as 4–1 against Liverpool and 4–0 against Juventus in the UEFA Cup.
In summer 2000, while Makélélé's former teammate at Nantes Christian Karembeu left Real Madrid for Middlesbrough, he was snapped up by the Spanish capital club. Makélélé's transfer was controversial, as Celta did not want to sell Makélélé unless a substantial improvement on their offer was made. Makélélé refused to train until there was resolution of his contract. Finally, Celta were reluctantly forced to sell him for €14 million, far less than their valuation of the player and only after a falsified police report was made by his agent, Marc Roger. At Real, Makélélé added to his medal tally, winning two Spanish La Liga championships, the Champions League, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. As an ever-present in Vicente del Bosque's Real Madrid side, Makélélé also established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. Despite his value to the team, however, Makélélé was one of its most (relatively) under-paid members, earning a fraction of that paid to teammates like Zinedine Zidane, Luís Figo, Raúl, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Steve McManaman, and Guti. In the summer of 2003, feeling that his position at the club was insecure after the shock dismissal of Del Bosque and the arrival of David Beckham, and encouraged by teammates Zidane, Raúl, McManaman and Fernando Morientes, Makélélé decided to ask for an improved contract. The Real management flatly refused to consider his request. Upset, Makélélé handed in a transfer request, whereupon he was signed by Chelsea. Club president Florentino Pérez poured scorn on Makélélé's footballing abilities and said that Makélélé would not be missed:
He wasn't a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres. Younger players will arrive who will cause Makélélé to be forgotten. Pérez's opinion differed from that of players like Zidane, who remarked the following after Makélélé was sold and Beckham was bought:
Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine? In his autobiography, published in 2006, McManaman described Makélélé as the most important and yet least appreciated midfielder at Real. Retired former Real Madrid player and captain Fernando Hierro also criticised Pérez for both Makélélé's departure and the manner of his departure, saying:
