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Chelsea legend lands new job alongside former Frank Lampard assistant after Stamford Bridge exit

Eupen's head coach Claude Makelele pictured during a soccer match between KAS Eupen and Sporting Lokeren, Saturday 19 January 2019 in Eupen, on day 22 of the 'Jupiler Pro League' Belgian soccer championship season 2018-2019. BELGA PHOTO BRUNO FAHY        (Photo credit should read BRUNO FAHY/AFP via Getty Images)
-Credit: (Image: BRUNO FAHY/AFP via Getty Images)


The former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele has reputedly accepted the manager's role at Greek club Asteras Tripolis a year after leaving the Blues' loan department.

Makelele, 51, left the club by mutual consent last September after four years working at Cobham again. He returned as a technical mentor just over a decade after leaving Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2008, following five years in west London as a player.

As outlined upon his appointment, Makelele worked with the club's young players, including those within the academy and those out on loan. That included providing feedback on training and matches, plus visiting youngsters away from the club.

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BBC Sport now reports Makelele is closing in on a return to management in Greece. It claimed that former Chelsea assistant manager Paul Clement is also joining him, assuming the same role on the team's coaching staff.

They overlapped at the Blues during the tail end of Makelele's time at the club while Clement was coaching the club's under-16s and under-18s. He progressed to taking charge of the reserve team, then the first team coaching staff under Guus Hiddink and then Carlo Ancelotti, who made him his assistant.

Clement's most recent role was as a first-team coach for another former Chelsea midfielder, Frank Lampard. They spent a year working together at Everton before their departure last January.

With Lampard still out of work, most recently seen at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night presenting Harry Kane with his golden 100th international cap alongside England assistant coach Ashley Cole, Clement and Makelele are now seemingly teaming up. Neither has experience working in Greece before.

However, Makelele managed in Belgium and France with Eupen and Basita, respectively, before returning to Cobham. Clement also coached the Belgian club Cercle Brugge for seven months and has previously been an assistant under Ancelotti at Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.