When Makelele became the 11th and final signing Chelsea made in the dramatic summer transfer window of 2003, Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane was reported to have asked those at the Spanish club: ‘Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?’

Zidane knew Makelele better than most. They were team-mates at international level and had just spent two seasons playing alongside each other in Real Madrid’s star-studded 'Galacticos’ team. They had won the 2002 Champions League together and Madrid were cleaning up domestically.

Madrid’s loss was Chelsea’s gain. Makelele’s arrival was arguably our most important coup that summer. The 30-year-old brought defensive savviness and positional know-how to our midfield, and his game reached new heights when Jose Mourinho took charge a year later. He deployed Makelele in an anchor role in a three-man midfield.

‘Look, if I have a triangle in midfield – Makelele behind and two others just in front – I will always have an advantage against a pure 4-4-2 where the central midfielders are side by side,’ said Mourinho. ‘I will always have an extra man, and it starts with Makelele, who is between the lines.’

Such was Makelele’s impact in this fresh 4-3-3 formation that the position came to be named after him. Before long, ‘The Makelele Role’ entered common football parlance.

It was high praise indeed for the way the quiet man of the Chelsea squad went about his business in such no-nonsense fashion. He was a tactically intelligent, disciplined and selfless midfielder central to our first two Premier League triumphs, several domestic cup successes, and regular forays into the very latter stages of the Champions League.

In January 2007, midway through his penultimate campaign as a Blue, Makelele gave an exclusive interview to the Chelsea magazine in which he explained how it felt to hear his family name synonymous with a tactical ploy.

'It is the greatest compliment that any player can get,' said Makelele. 'It means you have given something to the game, that you have created something in football. I enjoy my job playing in this position.

'I only think about it in terms of how it fits into the team rather than as an individual role. Whenever I play, I always think how my movement will affect what happens with the rest of the players on the pitch.

'I think only for the team. We all have our individual jobs - John Terry has his job, Frank Lampard has his job, everyone makes their contribution. But it is all part of the overall team system.'

'And when we play as parts of the same system, it makes life much easier,' he added.

'It's like a car. You need all the parts working properly together to make the car operate. And I think this is why Chelsea have won the Premiership for the last two seasons - because we have such good discipline to play as a team and we always fight for each other. This is a big part of the Chelsea spirit.'

Standing at 5ft 9in tall, Makelele could reasonably be described as diminutive when it comes to elite professional football, especially at that time. During an era of Premier League football when midfielders were expected to be tall or physical – think Patrick Vieira or Roy Keane – Maka bucked the trend. It did not affect his ability to steal possession or come out on top in tackles.

'You don't always need to be really big - it's all about choosing the right moment for the contact,' he revealed.

'Timing is everything, and much more important than just strength. Even if you are smaller, if you get the timing right, you will still win challenges.’

Such was Makelele’s importance – ‘Stop Makelele and you stop Chelsea,’ Fulham manager Chris Coleman once stressed – opposition teams started man-marking him. A defensive midfielder being man-marked? Again, Makelele had broken new footballing ground.

'Sometimes I have a player who just wants to stay with me wherever I go for the whole 90 minutes,' Makelele acknowledged.

'It can be difficult, but after it started to happen a few times, I spoke with the manager and we changed some things so that we can adapt when this happens.

'Jose Mourinho has given me a lot of responsibility on the pitch. He asks a lot of me but that is fine. I like to be under pressure because it helps me give my maximum for the team.'

For five seasons, Chelsea fans saw one of their own set the standard for defensive midfield play. Those around him in blue were beneficiaries, too, among them centre-back John Terry. Our former skipper recently told us just what made Makelele so vital when picking his Team of 120.

‘Maka was a dream to play behind,’ JT enthused.

‘He swept up all your rubbish. He was like Pac-Man in front of you; he gobbled everything up. Ridiculous levels. And also, I think his generation didn't really get the credit he deserved in that role.’

With Makelele in the team, Chelsea started lifting silverware with regularity. It is no surprise Real Madrid went the other way. In his absence, it would be four years until Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo, David Beckham and co got their hands on a trophy.

‘The loss of Makelele was the beginning of the end for Los Galacticos,’ remarked Fernando Hierro, the Real Madrid captain. For Chelsea, Makelele’s signing was the start of something very special.