Rooney tells BlueCo to bring back Chelsea legend – ‘I absolutely loved him’ | OneFootball

Wayne Rooney has told BlueCo to bring back Chelsea legend Claude Makelele after opening up on a chat over a “glass of wine” after a charity game last year.

Makelele won two Premier League titles under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and is widely considered to be one of the greatest defensive midfielders of all time, with the ‘Makelele role’ named in his honour.

The Frenchman returned to the club as a coach in 2019 but left in September 2023 by mutual consent.

Rooney insists Chelsea could do with “someone of his mentality and mindset” at the club.

“I played a charity game last year and Claude Makelele was there,” Rooney said on his BBC podcast. “I absolutely loved it.

“It was the first time I’ve been in his company and we sat down after the game and had a glass of wine, I absolutely loved him.

“I was thinking at the time, someone with his mentality and mindset, having him around the place would be great for Chelsea.”

Analysing Chelsea’s problems following their FA Cup semi-final win over Leeds, Rooney added: “I was watching the game and I don’t think the Chelsea players seemed sad [about Rosenior’s sacking], they almost seemed relieved.

“As a player you need to look at yourself. Some of them downed tools, 100%. It was interesting as well to see some players back fit.

“If you go back to Chelsea when they under Lampard, Terry, Cech, Makelele, it actually didn’t matter that much if the manager was sacked because you’ve got a group of leaders who will lead on the pitch and lead by example.

“Groups of players like that run the football club, we had that at Manchester United, so the manager doesn’t need to do much. That’s where it’s changed massively.”

Rosenior was one of Rooney’s assistants in his time in charge of Derby County and the United legend praised the Blues’ appointment of the 41-year-old.

Asked whether Rosenior will be “regretting” his decision to take the Chelsea job, Rooney said: “I don’t know, I don’t know.

“Liam’s a confident person and I’ve said many times, I think he’s a fantastic coach.

“He’s never been at a club of the pressure of Chelsea and he got put under a huge amount of pressure straightaway from the media and then the players.

“The players and the media quite quickly judged him and then he wasn’t getting results so we all knew what was coming.”