'Starting to come good' - but Makelele says Blues still need Maignan and more

Former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele says Enzo Maresca needs to be left alone to work but needs several signings - including goalkeeper Mike Maignan - to emulate Paris St-Germain's success with a young squad.

The Blues ended last season with the youngest average age among their starting XI of any team in Premier League history but qualified for the Champions League with a win at Nottingham Forest on the final day.

They also won the Conference League with a 4-1 win over Real Betis just three days later and now embark on a campaign in the newly expanded Club World Cup, which begins this weekend.

When asked about his view of Chelsea, having left the club under the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital ownership, Makelele, a former player and coach at Stamford Bridge, said: "I think Chelsea are doing well. They are starting at the beginning [of their project], very slowly.

"In the beginning, they changed a lot of players and managers. The new manager [Enzo Maresca] made sure Chelsea finished the season in a good way. They qualified for the Champions League and won a trophy. I think this new Chelsea can be successful now.

"We need to wait for Chelsea to win the Premier League again, and they are starting to build a strategy and some stability. But, for me, the most important thing is they need to leave Maresca working in a good way, like Paris St-Germain did with Luis Enrique.

"They need stability if they are to fight for a title. I am a Chelsea fan, and I was worried when I saw Chelsea struggling in the beginning [under new owners Clearlake-Boehly], but now they are on a positive path and can return to the Chelsea of the past, which was at a high level."

The former defensive midfielder saw 'the Makelele role' named after him while playing under Jose Mourinho in west London. He joked that should now be known as "the Caicedo role".

Makelele also praised the signing from Ipswich of striker Liam Delap, who will make his debut in the United States, adding: "The project is starting to come good. The future is bright. It takes a lot of young talent to try to make Chelsea successful.

"I like Nicolas Jackson. We can't criticise him. But of course, Chelsea need some better players if they are to win the Premier League, and they are also back in the Champions League.

"They needed a second striker [in Delap]. He is compatible with Jackson and adds competition. Jackson can't do it all alone. I appreciate him. He fought all season.

"He did a good job, scored a lot of goals, and got some assists, but of course another striker is welcome."

Makelele hopes the Blues will add a goalkeeper, after seeing France number one Mike Maignan strongly linked to a move to Chelsea.

He added: "Maignan is one of the best in the world right now and I think Milan won't want their best goalkeeper gone.

"But if Chelsea can take him, it's better, because to win trophies you need a good goalkeeper. You look at PSG and they had a young squad but a great goalkeeper in Gianluigi Donnarumma.

"Chelsea need a goalkeeper, striker and maybe winger to fight for the Champions League and Premier League next season."