Chelsea boss reveals how easy to sign Real Madrid's Makelele

Chelsea boss Claude Makelele has revealed how easy it was to convince owner Roman Abramovich to raid Real Madrid for midfielder Claude Makelele.

"Last season we did not buy any players," said Ranieri. "This season we buy 10 or 11 players and change everything. Now we are working to build a good team. I know that Roman Abramovich wants to put Chelsea at a high level like Milan or Real Madrid."

"I said to Mr Abramovich that Real Madrid are one of the best teams in the world and they have a great player and everything goes around him, and this man is Claude Makelele. I would like to buy him. For me Real Madrid was Claude Makelele."

Ranieri also revealed: "He is a good man and always comes into the dressing room after a match."

"Always he is smiling. After losing against Arsenal he was fantastic. I had said to him that it is important when we lose that he stays with us. When we lost against Besiktas and against Arsenal he was the first in the dressing room and we all appreciated that."