Claude Makelele will return to Chelsea’s Cobham training base tomorrow as he returns to the Blues as the new Young Player Technical Mentor.
Makelele’s new job will focus on the club’s young talent as well as the players the club has loaned out. He will also have an ambassadorial role for Chelsea.
According to Chelsea’s website there are 17 players contracted to the club currently on loan elsewhere.
The former France international’s job will be similar to Petr Cech’s role with the senior team. Cech is also returning to the club in a technical role after playing at Stamford Bridge with distinction.
Another ex-Blue is on staff as manager as Frank Lampard, the club’s record goalscorer, is in charge of the first team.
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None of the three men have experience in their new roles in the Premier League, though Lampard managed Derby County in the Championship last season, leading the Rams to the Playoff final where they were defeated by Aston Villa.
Makelele has primarily been working as a coach since he finished his playing career as a member of Paris Saint-Germain in 2011.
He swapped the pitch for the dugout in Paris, becoming an assistant coach from 2011-13 alongside Paul Clement. He then had a season in charge at Bastia in 2014.
After a spell as technical director at Monaco, the ex-midfielder resurfaced on the bench, again as Clement’s assistant at Swansea City in 2017. After leaving Wales he moved to Belgium to coach Eupen, a job he will leave to take his new role at Chelsea.
Makelele played for France on their run to the 2006 World Cup Final as part of his 71-cap international career.
During his club career, he represented six clubs, most notably Real Madrid in addition to Chelsea and PSG.
He played 144 games for the West London club and won back to back titles, alongside Cech and Lampard in 2005 and 2006.
The return of the trio comes at a tempestuous time at Stamford Bridge, as the club copes with a transfer ban that prohibits them from buying new players for two windows.