Claude Makelele has played alongside some of the greatest players in the world, so the revelation of his best teammate ever was quite a shocker.
Former Chelsea and Real Madrid star Claude Makelele had a pretty solid career, during which time he played in the same teams as legends of the game. This includes Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Frank Lampard, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo and more. But as reported by the Mirror, the Frenchman chose a slightly different player as his best teammate ever.
“I’m not going to say Zidane, because he’s my friend and I’m always talking about him!,” he said.
“I’m going to say Iván Helguera who played in midfield with me at Madrid. We had a great chemistry; we’d train together, we’d eat together. He knew where I’d move on the pitch, I’d know when he was going to push up and try and score. We didn’t even need to talk, just a look was enough to know what the other was going to do.”
There you have it – Iván Helguera.
Now Helguera was a fantastic player, there is no doubt about that, but it just was not the answer you would expect when he has played with some of the true greats. Maybe it was a great friendship off the pitch that coincided with their chemistry on it, but either way it opens the door for some interesting conversations.
For example, who knows what other players may say in this scenario. Would Frank Lampard regard Wayne Bridge as the greatest player he has ever shared the pitch with? Probably not, but anything is possible.
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