ANOTHER Chelsea legend leaves the club after Bruno departure

Cameron Smith

25 Sept 2023 18:50 BST
3 min read

Chelsea legend Claude Makelele has become the latest member of staff to exit the club as he has reportedly left his role as a technical mentor.

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Makelele, 50, spent five years as a player at Chelsea and helped them win back-to-back Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006.

He then re-joined the club as a technical mentor in 2019 having spent time at PSG, Bastia, Monaco, Swansea and Eupen following his retirement from playing.

Makelele’s role as technical mentor was focused on individual academy players and youngsters out on loan, however the Frenchman has now left the club after four years in the job, according to Di Marzio’s Nathan Gissing.

The decision was reportedly made by mutual consent and happened before Chelsea Legends played a friendly match against Bayern Munich Legends earlier in September.

The match took place in memory of Gianluca Vialli and Makelele featured as Chelsea ran out 5-0 winners.

Makelele is the second member of Chelsea’s backroom staff to have left the club since the start of the season.

Bruno Saltor has also departed, although the club have not made his departure public.

© ProShots - Claude Makelele playing for France

Bruno leaves Chelsea

The Telegraph first reported that Bruno has “secretly” left Chelsea after just four months as part of Mauricio Pochettino’s backroom staff.

Di Marzio added that Bruno “was pictured on Chelsea’s pre-season tour in America, but is understood to have left the club shortly after the squad had completed their pre-season.”

The Spaniard arrived at Stamford Bridge from Brighton & Hove Albion along with Graham Potter, with Chelsea paying a world record £21m to lure Potter away from the Seagulls.

However, he was sacked in April 2023 after a poor run of form, with Bruno taking over as interim manager for the 0-0 draw against Liverpool.

He then joined Pochettino’s coaching staff this summer, but has now departed the club. Bruno’s exit means that only two members of Potter’s staff who joined Chelsea from Brighton in 2022 still remain at the club - Ben Roberts (head of goalkeeping) and Kyle Macaulay (data analyst).

Makelele's departure follows that of fellow Blues legend Petr Cech, who left his role as technical and performance advisor when Todd Boehly became owner in 2022.