Makelele still eyeing European glory

CLAUDE MAKELELE believes Chelsea still have a squad capable of winning the Champions League – though whether he will be around to part of that success remains to be seen.

Makelele has a year left on his current contract at Stamford Bridge and so far there have been no discussions as to whether it will be extended.

The 34-year-old France veteran was a key figure in the club’s two Premiership title successes under Jose Mourinho but he found often found himself out of the side this season.

But Makelele demonstrated he can still dominate a game in midfield with a fine performance in Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup final win over Manchester United at Wembley.

Now Makelele believes the Champions League remains within Chelsea’s grasp over the next few seasons.

He said: “I came to Chelsea to give some history to the club and now I have won all the English trophies.

“Now it is only the European trophy left. Chelsea have big players and young players for the future and have time to win the Champions League.”

But whether Makelele will be around to help them achieve that goal remains to be seen, with his future at Stamford Bridge still undecided.

He has been attracting interest from other clubs but agent Jimmy Ladjemi says nothing can happen until Chelsea decide on his fate.

Ladjemi said: “Makelele has a contract with Chelsea, and we are going to wait and see what they will do for next season.

“The player cannot negotiate with any club because he has not finished his contract with his current club.We don’t know what is happening. He has not sat down with Chelsea yet and he still has one year left on his contract.

“It is not surprising that many clubs want him, he is a very good player, but we are not allowed to talk to anyone until we see what Chelsea want to do.”

Mourinho has already made it clear to Makelele that his first-team appearances would be restricted if the veteran midfielder continued to play for his national side.

Chelsea have also seen the vast improvement in the form of both Lassana Diarra and Mikel John Obi and both players have demonstrated they can undertake Makelele’s holding role in front of the defence.

Makelele knows he is unlikely to be first choice next season and the arrival of Steve Sidwell from Reading in July will increase the competition for midfield places.