Reece James has had an incredible start to the season, establishing himself as the clear first-choice right-back at Chelsea. However, surgery may unfortunately derail his brilliant form. According to The Athletic, James went for a scan on his knee on Saturday and there are worrying signs for the young Englishman.
Chelsea Suffer Injury Blow as Reece James Prepares to Undergo Surgery
Breakthrough Season for Reece James
While he did get significant game time last season, he hadn’t established himself as a clear starter. Of course, it was only a matter of time, and this season he has taken that next step.
Jumping ahead of captain Cesar Azpilicueta in the queue, Reece James is clearly Chelsea’s best right-back, and in fact, one of their best players.
Forming a partnership with Kurt Zouma, Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell at the back, along with Edouard Mendy in goal, the defence has looked much better than last season.
Silva bringing the leadership and composure, and Zouma brings the strength and aerial presence. The fullbacks James and Chilwell have also provided defensive solidity as well as positive attacking play.
The 21-year-old is incredibly strong, and he never backs down from a fight. This type of mentality has already won over the Chelsea support, without even mentioning his incredible, pinpoint crossing.
He has already become a fan-favourite, and needless to say any sort of major injury to Reece James will be a major blow to manager Frank Lampard and the entire Chelsea team.
Solid Like-for-Like Replacement
The only silver lining to a James injury would be that the Blues have a first-team quality replacement for him. Azpilicueta is still reliable as ever, and fully capable of starting for Chelsea.
While he doesn’t have James’s crossing, strength or pace, his defensive solidity makes up for it.
Last season, Azpilicueta was starting in most matches against the big teams, whereas James would play against weaker teams.
This was no doubt due to James’s attacking talent being more useful against deep blocks, while the skipper continues to be very dependable at the back.
Conversely, if the injury were to happen to Chilwell, Chelsea would not have a reliable option to cover the left-back position, so at least Lampard has someone to cover James in case of a potential absence. However, he, as well as every single Chelsea fan, will be hoping it doesn’t come to that.
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