Claude Makélélé Sinda (born 18 February 1973) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder.

[10] 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.

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.

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.

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.

[14] 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 sacking 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.

[20]Zinedine Zidane was no less critical, asking about Real's incoming Galacticos: Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine.

His defensive qualities allowed the likes of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Arjen Robben, Damien Duff, Eiður Guðjohnsen and Didier Drogba to parade their attacking skills.

[24] To cap off the 2004–05 season for the Frenchman, he was allowed to take a penalty awarded to Chelsea in the game against Charlton Athletic on the day the Premier League trophy was due to be presented.

Mourinho was subsequently forced to counter this tactic by withdrawing Lampard and Michael Essien further back in midfield to relieve the pressure on Makélélé.

[citation needed] On 5 December 2006, in a League Cup game against Newcastle United, Makélélé wore the captain's armband in John Terry's absence and with Frank Lampard rested.

Despite an ear infection that made him miss an early part of the season, he regained his place and forced Michael Essien into the right-back position, effectively pushing Juliano Belletti out of the team.

Makélélé was instrumental in Chelsea's run to the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final under the guidance of manager Avram Grant; the team were defeated by Manchester United in a penalty-shootout, after a 1–1 deadlock following both regulation and extra time.

[29] On 18 July 2008, it was reported that Makélélé was about to take a medical the following day in Paris ahead of a proposed move back to French football.

On 21 July, Chelsea announced they had released Makélélé on a free transfer, while Paris Saint-Germain confirmed that the player would join them and would be unveiled at a press conference that afternoon.

[35][36][37] Makélélé decided to retire from international football in September 2004 in order to focus on club football with Chelsea, but 11 months later, in August 2005, he and compatriots Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram were persuaded out of retirement by national team manager Raymond Domenech, who coached Makélélé in the France U21 team over a decade prior, to help France qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

His partnership with Patrick Vieira in the defensive midfield proved effective as the team conceded only three goals in seven games and took four clean-sheets, a tally only bested by world champions Italy.

[39] After a defeat to Italy on penalties in the World Cup Final, Makélélé initially commented that he was again going to retire from international football.

In this role, he was known in particular for his acceleration, positional sense, tactical discipline, intelligence, energy, and ball-winning ability; although he was not the fastest, most talented, technically skilled player on the ball, or particularly good in the air, he was also highly regarded throughout his career for being capable of functioning as a deep-lying playmaker for his team, due to his ability to dictate the tempo of his team's play in midfield with his short, efficient passing game, which allowed him to link up the defence with the attack effectively after winning back possession.

[55] Caretaker manager Savvas Pantelidis had coached the team in a 1–3 loss against Atromitos the day after Makélélé's appointment, with the latter watching from the stands.

"[57] In May 2010, Lenoir attempted to commit suicide outside Makélélé's Paris home by ingesting a lethal amount of drugs and alcohol.

Reports after the suicide attempt implied that it was related to Makélélé finally calling it quits with Lenoir and moving on with his then pregnant fiancée, which he vehemently denies.