Claude Makelele makes Caicedo prediction after ‘best in the world’ claim

The Ecuadorian midfielder earned Chelsea’s Player of the Year honors last season, featuring in every Premier League match as Enzo Maresca’s squad secured a return to the Champions League following a two-year absence.

This season, the 24-year-old has started even stronger, delivering another dynamic performance last weekend to help Chelsea extend their impressive run against London rivals Tottenham.

His form has drawn widespread attention. Chelsea manager Maresca recently stated that Manchester City’s Rodri is the only defensive midfielder who can be compared to Caicedo.

Jamie Redknapp, a former Tottenham and Liverpool player, also praised Caicedo, calling him ‘the best of his type in world football’.

Makelele, regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest defensive midfielders, said he’s not surprised by Caicedo’s rise. He believes the midfielder is on track to be recognized among the world’s elite, regardless of position, if he continues to grow as a leader in Chelsea’s youthful squad.

‘I’m not surprised. I’ve been around Chelsea when he arrived in England, and I talked with him. I like this boy, I like this boy,’ Makelele told Metro. ‘He is talented, powerful, and tactically, he is very good.

‘When I played for Chelsea, I had that leadership, but the leadership is not always about the captain, not about talking. Leadership can be about taking the game with responsibility.

‘Make sure your teammates understand that when you are there, they will win. That they can’t play without you. That they need you all the time because you are the balance for everything, the mental, technical side, the body language.

‘I think it’s a part of his progression when you take this kind of possibility and understanding because he is so good, and he can be the leader for this team.

‘This is very important, and if he continues, I think he can also compete for the Ballon d’Or next year because he is such a good player.’

Makelele continued: ‘I played in this position and I know how difficult it is to play in this position, how difficult it is to think on your feet. Because when you play in this position, you can’t think for yourself; you need to think about the team, about the way you see it.

‘In a game, you need to read quickly in that position. Sometimes the manager doesn’t have time to give you the message and you need to analyse straight away and be like a second manager in the team.

‘It’s very, very important that you need to have the character, you need to have a strong mentality. This is not easy, but I’m sure he will be one of the big players for the club moving forward. He will make history in a Chelsea shirt.’

With Caicedo leading the charge, Chelsea are currently just one point shy of the top four and have made a strong start in the Champions League group stage.

Although the squad is youthful and has shown moments of inexperience, Makelele believes they’ve proven they have the talent to compete with the best teams in both domestic and European competitions.

‘In America at the Club World Cup, I saw a team that was more competitive with a big ambition this season,’ he added. ‘In the Premier League, I think they’re starting good, slowly.

‘Of course, sometimes they play good, sometimes they don’t play good. They win. But most importantly, when they win, it has been against teams who will be fighting for the title like Liverpool, Tottenham, all this kind of competition.

‘I think Chelsea know exactly how to win these types of games. I see this when they win against Tottenham, and I think it’s good for their mentality. I would not worry about the Premier League; they will be there. Winning the Premier League, I don’t know. But I think this season they will be there in the top four and fighting for the title.

‘The Champions League is a different competition now, a different platform. They need to understand exactly how to win this platform and compete because it’s been a long time.

‘And now there are many, many teams. Paris Saint-Germain dominated in Europe last year. Real Madrid, they will be there. Bayern Munich, Arsenal.

‘Chelsea need to learn again and try to make sure they get themselves into the quarter-final, semi-final. I think if they are there, I think they have a possibility for winning because they demonstrated in America that they can beat Paris Saint-Germain in a good way.

‘They show how to play, how to fight, how to score, and this is good. This is the way we want to see Chelsea.’