Chelsea have been blessed with quality defensive midfield options over the years, and now John Terry has given his verdict on the battle between Claude Makelele and N’golo Kante.
Terry featured far more often with Makelele as a teammate, and the pair won two Premier Leagues together as well as a heap of domestic trophies.
The club legend was still with the Blues for Kante’s first season at Stamford Bridge, where the league title was once again delivered to the club.
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John Terry picks Claude Makelele over N’golo Kante
Terry was asked to choose between the two Frenchmen when naming his all-time Chelsea and Arsenal combined XI, and he selected Makelele in his side.
After choosing the former Real Madrid man, he was asked to select between him and Patrick Vieira, where he also stayed true to Makelele.
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There is an underrated element to the Frenchman’s game, with him often falling out of the debate for best midfielders in the club’s history.
Michael Ballack doesn’t agree with this narrative though. He absolutely loved playing with Makelele, despite the fact that Frank Lampard was amongst the options he was featuring alongside at the time.
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Both Makelele and Kante inspirations for current Chelsea star
The Blues have kept up their run of signing brilliant holding midfielders with the addition of Moises Caicedo to the club over the past few years.
Caicedo has previously said he idolises the pair, and is already well on his way to replicating some of their brilliance at Stamford Bridge.
Makelele in particular was given licence to just roam in front of the back four because of how often Frank Lampard was on the scoresheet, and it looks as if the same fate is coming to Caicedo.
Enzo Fernandez has drawn comparisons to Lampard recently for his goalscoring prowess, and the Ecuador international is being allowed to do what he does best on the pitch around the World Cup winner.
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