Makelele returns to Chelsea as young player mentor

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ANKARA (AA) - English Premier League team Chelsea announced that the club appointed its former player Claude Makelele as a technical mentor to work with academy players to increase their performances in both matches and training.

"Makelele will be based largely at our Cobham training ground, working closely with individual Academy players, tracking technical performances in both training and matches as they reach a critical point in their professional development," the London club said in a statement on its website on Friday.

The 46-year-old French former player will be also responsible of players who were sent to different teams on loan from Chelsea, giving feedback about their performances.

Between 2003 and 2008, Makelele made 217 appearances and scored 2 goals with Chelsea in 5 seasons.

Chelsea hired another of its former players, Frank Lampard, as new manager in July following the departure of Italian head coach Maurizio Sarri.