beginning of the 1992–93 season, Makélélé was already in the Nantes first-team, then playing in the French first division. He played at Nantes for five seasons, winning the French championship in 1995 and helped the club to the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League the following season. This earned him a move to Marseille for whom he played for one season. Celta Vigo Makélélé was transferred to Celta Vigo where he spent two successful seasons at the Galician club. While playing alongside Aleksandr Mostovoi, Valeri Karpin, Haim Revivo and Míchel Salgado, Celta achieved historic victories such as 4–1 against Liverpool and 4–0 against Juventus in the UEFA Cup. Real Madrid In 2000, he was recruited by Real Madrid. His transfer was controversial because Celta did not want to sell Makélélé unless a substantial improvement on their offer was made. Makélélé refused to train until there was resolution of his contract. Finally, Celta were reluctantly forced to sell him for €14 million, far less than their valuation of the player and only after a falsified police report was made by his agent, Marc Roger. At Real, Makélélé substantially added to his medal tally, winning two Spanish La Liga championships, the Champions League, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. As an ever-present in Vicente del Bosque's Real Madrid side, Makélélé also established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. Despite his value to the team, however, Makélélé was one of its most (relatively) under-paid members, earning a fraction of that paid to teammates like Zinedine Zidane, Luís Figo, Raúl, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Steve McManaman, and Guti. In the summer of 2003, feeling that his position at the club was insecure after the shock sacking of Del Bosque and the arrival of David Beckham, and encouraged by teammates Zidane, Raúl, McManaman and Fernando Morientes, Makélélé decided to ask for an improved contract. The Real management flatly refused to consider his request. Upset, Makélélé handed in a transfer request, whereupon he was signed by Chelsea. Club president Florentino Pérez infamously poured scorn on Makélélé's footballing abilities and proclaimed that Makélélé would not be missed: In his autobiography, published in 2006, McManaman described Makélélé as the most important and yet least appreciated midfielder at Real. Retired former Real Madrid player and captain Fernando Hierro also criticised Pérez for both Makélélé's departure and the manner of