Claude Makelele will end his five-year spell at Chelsea by completing a move to Paris St Germain.Very sad to see the genius leave but hes leaving a legend at the club and all the fans appreciate what hes done for us. Chelseas greatest ever signing he offered 5 years of solid service. For me he embodied Chelsea he was our main player. I hope Essien is ready to step up to the plate. If any player in the world can replace Makelele it has to be him. Real has never been the same since his departure so has Chelsea since his arrival. I know he will do great for PSG. :bowdown:
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PSG have announced the French midfielder will join them after reaching agreement on terms of the deal with the player and Chelsea.
Makelele was a £16.8million signing by Chelsea from Real Madrid in 2003. The 35-year-old won two league titles during his spell at Stamford Bridge, and helped the club reach last season's Champions League final.
Makelele retired from international football after France's disappointing showing at Euro 2008.
A brief statement on the PSG website read: 'Charles Villeneuve, president of Paris St Germain, Paul Le Guen, coach of the first team, and Alain Roche, head scout, will have a press conference today.
'On this occasion they will present to the journalists the French international midfielder Claude Makelele, who will join Paris St Germain's first team for the 2008/09 season.'
Makelele was brought to Chelsea from Real Madrid by former manager Claudio Ranieri, shortly after Roman Abramovich took over as the club's new owner.
The former Nantes, Marseille and Celta Vigo player added defensive strength to Chelsea's midfield and linked up well with Frank Lampard in the centre.
He departs at a time Chelsea have an abundance of midfield options, with Deco, Lampard, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Mikel Jon Obi set to compete for selection next season.
A statement on Chelsea's website read: 'Everyone at Chelsea would like to take this opportunity to thank Claude for the five years of service he has given to the club.
'He has been a key part of our trophy success during that time 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 as a friend of the club.'
QuoteClaude Makelele will end his five-year spell at Chelsea by completing a move to Paris St Germain.Very sad to see the genius leave but hes leaving a legend at the club and all the fans appreciate what hes done for us. Chelseas greatest ever signing he offered 5 years of solid service. For me he embodied Chelsea he was our main player. I hope Essien is ready to step up to the plate. If any player in the world can replace Makelele it has to be him. Real has never been the same since his departure so has Chelsea since his arrival. I know he will do great for PSG. :bowdown:
Click here
PSG have announced the French midfielder will join them after reaching agreement on terms of the deal with the player and Chelsea.
Makelele was a £16.8million signing by Chelsea from Real Madrid in 2003. The 35-year-old won two league titles during his spell at Stamford Bridge, and helped the club reach last season's Champions League final.
Makelele retired from international football after France's disappointing showing at Euro 2008.
A brief statement on the PSG website read: 'Charles Villeneuve, president of Paris St Germain, Paul Le Guen, coach of the first team, and Alain Roche, head scout, will have a press conference today.
'On this occasion they will present to the journalists the French international midfielder Claude Makelele, who will join Paris St Germain's first team for the 2008/09 season.'
Makelele was brought to Chelsea from Real Madrid by former manager Claudio Ranieri, shortly after Roman Abramovich took over as the club's new owner.
The former Nantes, Marseille and Celta Vigo player added defensive strength to Chelsea's midfield and linked up well with Frank Lampard in the centre.
He departs at a time Chelsea have an abundance of midfield options, with Deco, Lampard, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Mikel Jon Obi set to compete for selection next season.
A statement on Chelsea's website read: 'Everyone at Chelsea would like to take this opportunity to thank Claude for the five years of service he has given to the club.
'He has been a key part of our trophy success during that time 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 as a friend of the club.'
Blasphemy Genfranco will always be a legend at Chelsea along with many others. But since Makelele joined us we have won 6 trophies it was Chelsea greatest era. To me Makelele was our key, the defense is very strong but with Maka in front of them was an extra shield was also a great passer going forward. Always played his rold did his best for the team and kept it professional. Very humble lad always played with the smile on his face. He was so good at what he did they named it the Makelele role, now since his departure I have heard people accuse him of being a rough, dirty even arrogant thats disgusting. The funny thing is these are the same people who praise Roy Kene. :nopity:QuoteClaude Makelele will end his five-year spell at Chelsea by completing a move to Paris St Germain.Very sad to see the genius leave but hes leaving a legend at the club and all the fans appreciate what hes done for us. Chelseas greatest ever signing he offered 5 years of solid service. For me he embodied Chelsea he was our main player. I hope Essien is ready to step up to the plate. If any player in the world can replace Makelele it has to be him. Real has never been the same since his departure so has Chelsea since his arrival. I know he will do great for PSG. :bowdown:
Click here
PSG have announced the French midfielder will join them after reaching agreement on terms of the deal with the player and Chelsea.
Makelele was a £16.8million signing by Chelsea from Real Madrid in 2003. The 35-year-old won two league titles during his spell at Stamford Bridge, and helped the club reach last season's Champions League final.
Makelele retired from international football after France's disappointing showing at Euro 2008.
A brief statement on the PSG website read: 'Charles Villeneuve, president of Paris St Germain, Paul Le Guen, coach of the first team, and Alain Roche, head scout, will have a press conference today.
'On this occasion they will present to the journalists the French international midfielder Claude Makelele, who will join Paris St Germain's first team for the 2008/09 season.'
Makelele was brought to Chelsea from Real Madrid by former manager Claudio Ranieri, shortly after Roman Abramovich took over as the club's new owner.
The former Nantes, Marseille and Celta Vigo player added defensive strength to Chelsea's midfield and linked up well with Frank Lampard in the centre.
He departs at a time Chelsea have an abundance of midfield options, with Deco, Lampard, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Mikel Jon Obi set to compete for selection next season.
A statement on Chelsea's website read: 'Everyone at Chelsea would like to take this opportunity to thank Claude for the five years of service he has given to the club.
'He has been a key part of our trophy success during that time 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 as a friend of the club.'
Makelele, greatest ever signing? I think the real Chelsea fans may argue for the likes of Zola. Makelele was a great player, the past season or so though he has started to wane. He also is a cheap little sod, trying to injure players. He has gone down in my estimation big time since seeing him play the past year or so.
Luiz Felipe Scolari believes Chelsea can win the quadruple in his first season as manager at Stamford Bridge.
The Brazilian, 59, said his squad is strong enough to challenge for the Premier League, the FA Cup, Carling Cup and Champions League.
"We have four competitions this season and I'll try to win all four," he said.
"It will be very difficult but we have the team for it, we have the players for it. Chelsea have also given me everything I have wanted."
Chelsea failed to win a trophy last season after losing in the Carling Cup and Champions League finals and finishing second to Manchester United in the Premier League.
The former Portugal coach, who succeeded Avram Grant as Chelsea boss this summer, added: "I try and give confidence to my players. They sometimes make mistakes but I tell them that this is normal as long as they train hard. If they do their best the rest is my problem."
606: DEBATE
The biggest thing Chelsea had to spend on was a manager. Securing this manager means silverware this year at the expense of Man U
A-don789
Chelsea have been prolific at the start of their pre-season tour of Asia, beating Guangzhou Pharmaceutical 4-0 last week, while on Saturday they secured an emphatic 7-0 win over Chengdu Blades.
And Scolari said the tour had helped him decide on the majority of the starting XI for Chelsea's first game of the Premier League season against Portsmouth on 17 August.
"I know who my key players are," confirmed Scolari ahead of Tuesday's match against a Malaysian League Select XI - the third and final game of the Far East leg of Chelsea's tour.
"I have had 15 days with them and I know who is important for us to play more games than other players."
He stated: "You need to build a team around a few players in essential positions for important games and I now know who they are.
"I have in my mind one idea for the team to play against Portsmouth but until then I want to see how the players train.
"I have a minimum of 75% of the team in my mind but I need to know the other 25%."
It's down to myself to drive this team forward again and push to get to where we were last season and further
Chelsea captain John Terry
After Tuesday's friendly, Chelsea will head to the Luzhniki Stadium, the venue of last season's Champions League final defeat by Manchester United, for a match against Lokomotiv Moscow.
Blues captain John Terry, who missed what would have been the winning kick in the penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of United, conceded that returning to the Russian capital would be "weird" but said he was ready to concentrate on the forthcoming season.
The defender said: "We have made some great signings. With players like Deco and Jose Bosingwa coming to the club, there's no point me thinking, 'Oh, I could have won the Champions League that year' when I'm 35 or 40. I still have some great years ahead of me.
"With the manager we have, I have still got a great possibility of winning it.
"It's down to myself to drive this team forward again and push to get to where we were last season and further.
"We showed great strength of character with all the disappointments we had last season, with the changes in manager. We showed what a great team we are.
"Now we have a manager who can lead the team as well."
What? Friendly?
Rosters please.