?Swansea City were exceedingly fortunate to avoid the drop down to the Championship during the 2016-17 Premier League season, after some frantic months at the foot of the table resulted in the Swans finishing just above the relegation zone in 15th place.

Since the club’s unlikely survival, Swansea’s official website confirmed that former Chelsea star Claude Makelele, who earned 71 caps for his country, has been rewarded with a new contract at the Liberty. 

The Frenchman will continue his work at the Liberty Stadium as one of Paul Clement’s assistants alongside Nigel Gibbs, keeper coach Tony Roberts and head of physical performance Karl Halabi.

Plans for the imminent domestic campaign will become more prominent in the transfer window in the coming months, although the struggling top-flight outfit have already been boosted in the coaching department by the signing of former Chelsea ace Makelele.

Clement was on the coaching staff at the Blues when Makelele was contracted at Stamford Bridge, and the Swans boss believes that the 44-year-old former Real Madrid and Paris St. Germain midfielder was a predominant figure behind the scenes in the Swans’ narrow survival during the season which has just passed. 

“We are very happy that he is going to be staying on because he is very popular,” Clement said about Makelele last week.

“He is a quiet, humble man considering what he did as a player. He has great experience and he has passed that on to the players.”

During his impressive playing career, Makelele won an array of trophies including two La Liga titles, two Premier Leagues and the Champions League. 

Swansea will be gunning on his endless wisdom regarding the game to propel the club towards a few potential accolades of their own in the future, with the vision of bettering last year’s campaign starting in the training field.