Claude Makelele has named the one former teammate who stood out to him during his illustrious career – and it wasn’t Zinedine Zidane.

The French midfielder played for the likes of Marseille, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain before retiring in 2011 aged 38.

Makelele was the legs that made Real Madrid’s star-studded team tick – but he wasn’t valued by club chiefs in the same way he was by his teammatesGetty

Makelele played with some of the modern greats of football, but said one Real Madrid star was better than the restGetty Images

During his three seasons in Madrid, he was part of a Champions League-winning team alongside some of the greats of modern football, including Zidane, Luis Figo and Raul.

Makelele became a key part of that side before being offloaded to Chelsea in 2003 by Florentino Perez.

The Real Madrid president said at the time: “He wasn’t a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres.

“Younger players will arrive who will cause Makelele to be forgotten.”

His teammates disagreed, though, with Zidane’s reaction summing up their feelings.

He asked: “Why would you put another gold layer on a Bentley, when you have already lost its engine?”

However, it was another member of that famous side who Makelele believes “had everything”.

Academy graduate Guti appeared alongside Makelele 109 times for the Spanish giants.

Asked about the Spaniard, Makelele told the Obi One Podcast: “People never talk about it but Guti was more of a genius than all the players I’m talking about.

“Zidane, all the players, he [Guti] was better. He loved football and he had passing, technique, vision, understanding.

Makelele says Guti was the most talented star he played with at Real Madrid

Academy graduate Guti lifted 15 trophies in 15 years in Real Madrid’s first-teamGetty Images

“Every single thing a player needs, he had everything. You don’t see it anymore.”

Guti made 542 appearances for Real Madrid after breaking into the first-team aged 19.

Across those matches, he scored 77 goals and provided 94 assists from midfield before spending ten months with Besiktas at the end of his career.

The playmaker also won 15 trophies with Los Blancos, including three Champions Leagues and five league titles.

After retiring aged 35 in 2012, Guti went on to coach in Real Madrid’s academy, later managing their under-18 and under-19 sides.

He later became assistant coach at former club Besiktas and was manager of LaLiga club Almeria for a brief spell between November 2019 and June 2020.