Few players get a position named after them. Claude Makélélé did. Coaches and pundits still call the job of sitting in front of the back four 'the Makélélé role', because he did it so well that the description stuck.
He was not flashy and he did not score spectacular goals. He shielded the defence, won the ball back and handed it to someone who could do the flashy part. Without him, the team simply did not function.
What happened when Real Madrid sold him?
Real Madrid found out in 2003. They sold Makélélé and then stopped winning the Champions League for years. Zinedine Zidane summed it up with a line about luxury cars: 'Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the engine?' Not many midfielders have been described as the engine by Zidane.
The medals back up the point. Makélélé won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2002, then the Premier League twice with Chelsea, in 2005 and 2006. His ability to protect the back four and recover possession was rated as highly as anyone's in world football at the time.
Madrid learned the lesson the hard way. He is the most important player on this list that most people never noticed.
Next up tomorrow: number 28.
