Soccer-Makelele named Monaco technical director

PARIS, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Former France international and Real Madrid midfielder Claude Makelele has been appointed Monaco's technical director, the Ligue 1 club said on Thursday. Makelele, 42, who won the Champions League with Real in 2002, made over 600 appearances in spells with Nantes, Olympique Marseille, Celta Vigo, Real, Chelsea and Paris St Germain. He was PSG assistant coach from 2012-14 and coached Bastia in 2014 before being sacked three months into the Ligue 1 season. Monaco are second in Ligue 1, 19 points behind runaway leaders PSG. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Justin Palmer)