Claude Makelele has lifted the lid on quitting Real Madrid for Chelsea.
Now, years on, Makelele has spoken with FourFourTwo and he has revealed an agreement that he had made with Chelsea to move to Stamford Bridge.
"I had seen how things were going at Real Madrid," he said. "I told Chelsea that 'if I leave, I'll go there'. I made them a promise. "They did everything possible to sign me. I was 30 at the time, but they still paid a significant transfer fee.
"I went to Chelsea because they came to me first. Other teams like Inter and Manchester United approached me, and they had shown interest before I went to Madrid."
Makelele is now working at Chelsea with the club's loan players.