London: The former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele has been appointed assistant coach at Swansea, signing a deal until the end of the season to link up with his “mentor” Paul Clement, having worked with him during his playing stint at Chelsea and as a coach with Paris Saint-Germain.
Clement succeeded Bob Bradley as Swansea manager last week and immediately recruited Nigel Gibbs and Karl Halabi from Tottenham’s coaching staff.
But the 45-year-old former Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich assistant manager was keen to make another appointment with club stalwart Alan Curtis taking on another role.
Makelele fitted the bill despite a coaching career which has yet to hit the heights of his playing days.
“I am really excited to be here and I am happy to start working at Swansea,” Makelele said.
“Paul is my mentor. He has taught me a lot of things in my time working with him. When I heard he was back working in the Premier League, I phoned him and asked if I could help him at Swansea.
“Paul has given me the opportunity to come back to the Premier League, and I’m very grateful because I’ve really missed it. I know him very well and he knows me too. I think I have a lot to give, and hopefully I can help Paul and Swansea.”
As a player, Zaire-born Makelele almost defined the role of a holding midfielder in winning 71 caps for France and helping them to the 2006 World Cup final in Germany.
His position became known as the ‘Makelele role’ and he helped his first club Nantes win the Ligue 1 title and reach the Champions League semi-final.
He then had spells at Marseille and Celta Vigo in Spain before joining Real Madrid in 2000.
In three years at the Bernabeu he won seven pieces of silverware, including the Champions League and two La Liga titles.
Makelele then moved on to Chelsea — where Clement was working his way through the coaching ranks — and helped the Blues win two Premier League titles, two League Cups and the FA Cup.
He left Chelsea in 2008 and spent the last three years of his playing career at PSG.
It was there he became Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant, a position subsequently taken up by Clement, before stepping into management with the French club Bastia in May 2014.
However, he only lasted six months at the Corsican club before being sacked in November 2014, having won only three of his 13 games in charge.
Makelele later took up a technical director role with Monaco.
Meanwhile, Swansea have been dealt a blow in their survival fight after the Wales international Neil Taylor fractured his cheekbone during training on Wednesday morning.
The 27-year-old defender went to hospital and will require surgery.
Reports have linked Swansea with a GBP5m (Dh22.1 million) move for Norwich’s Sweden defender Martin Olsson, whose contract expires in the summer.
The Holland winger Luciano Narsingh, 26, is also expected to join for around GBP4m from PSV Eindhoven as Clement seeks to improve his squad for their relegation battle. Swansea have conceded the most goals by a Premier League club so far this season — 45 in 20 games — and face a tough run of fixtures, with Arsenal, Southampton and Leicester City all due to visit south Wales before March, while their next three away games are at Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
