Chelsea suffer another blow as Blues legend leaves role as mentor to young players… with former midfielder agreeing to terminate his contract earlier this month

Chelsea’s problems, both on and off the pitch, continue, with a club legend stepping down from his role this week.

The former midfielder took on the role of technical mentor in August 2019 after his former teammate Frank Lampard was first appointed as manager at Stamford Bridge.

But he has now left the Blues after mutually agreeing to terminate his contract, journalist Gianluca DiMarzio reports.

The 50-year-old played in the Legends of Europe match at Stamford Bridge earlier this month in memory of the late Gianluca Vialli. The Blues won 4-0 that evening.

The club legend in question is Claude Makelele, who made 217 appearances for Chelsea during his five years at Stamford Bridge.

The former midfielder took on the role of technical mentor for young players in August 2019

Makelele has won the Premier League twice, the FA Cup twice and the League Cup twice.

The club’s official website stated that Makelele returned to the club in August 2019 ‘as a technical mentor for our young players’.

“He was largely based at our training ground in Cobham, working closely with individual academy players and monitoring technical performance in both training and matches as they reached a crucial point in their professional development,” Chelsea said at the time.

He also worked with on-loan Chelsea players, visiting them at their clubs and providing regular match feedback.

Chelsea’s 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday left them languishing in 14th place in the Premier League, with just five points and three defeats in their opening six games.

And during his post-match speech to his players, Mauricio Pochettino stressed that it will take a collective effort from everyone involved to turn things around and get Chelsea out of their current rut.

Chelsea’s only league win to date has come against newly promoted Luton Town.