The iconic holding midfielder Claude Makélélé has seen every version of Paris Saint-Germain across the past decade, but the squad preparing for this summer’s Club World Cup in the United States “feels completely different,” he tells us from the team’s Los Angeles base.

“All the mistakes they made before, they’ve corrected,” Makélélé explains, highlighting the arrival of Luis Enrique as a turning point. The Spanish coach, he says, “studies every detail” and has quickly forged a dressing-room culture where staff and players—from Marquinhos to the electrifying Ousmane Dembélé—buy into a single plan. In Makélélé’s eyes that unity, paired with smarter recruitment, has elevated PSG to “number one in the world.”

Learning, Adapting… and Finally Winning?

Makélélé argues that the club’s relentless trial-and-error process was essential. Early Champions League collapses are now treated as data points, not scars. “Football is like life,” he notes. “You fail, you correct, you move forward.” The result is a squad he believes is built for tournament football: experienced, tactically flexible and, crucially, calm under pressure.

He also praises the behind-the-scenes “American-style” organisation of PSG’s touring staff, calling the operation “vintage fashion—very well-organised.” That off-field professionalism, he insists, will matter when the knockout games arrive in sweltering U.S. venues.

Eyes on Multiple Prizes

With the continental treble already in the bag, Makélélé views the expanded Club World Cup as a perfect launchpad. “Start by lifting this trophy, he says, then go take the next one.” Asked for a prediction, he doesn’t hesitate: PSG in the final—full stop.

For a club often judged on glamorous signings and near-misses, Makélélé’s confidence sends a clear message: this version of Paris Saint-Germain believes it can translate continenta, dominance into genuine global supremacy. If the players match their former legend’s faith, the Rose Bowl celebration that begins their campaign might end with silverware—and a statement heard across world football.