Reece James facing Chelsea crossroads as he targets return after injury hell

If Rio Ferdinand is right, Reece James’s telephone volition person been buzzing disconnected the hook for overmuch of Wednesday greeting arsenic England’s players chased the low-down connected their caller manager Thomas Tuchel.

“I cognize for a information these players volition beryllium sitting determination ringing each other,” erstwhile England defender Ferdinand explained connected his societal media transmission Rio Reacts. “They’ll beryllium calling each their mates that played nether him. ‘What was helium like?’. That’s what the conversations volition be.”

For James, who won the Champions League nether Tuchel astatine Chelsea, an England callback whitethorn conscionable person gotten a small much likely, but remains, for now, a agelong mode off. The aim, arsenic it was astatine the commencement of the summer, is much straightforward: “I person 1 goal. My extremity is to enactment connected the pitch.”

In the aforesaid planetary interruption arsenic Tuchel was signing his caller declaration with the FA, James - who has not started a crippled for England successful much than 2 years - was making his latest instrumentality to Chelsea training, hopeless erstwhile again to enactment years of wounded vexation down him.

Having recovered from the hamstring country that wiped retired astir of the 2nd fractional of past play and ruined immoderate accidental of going to Euro 2024, James played a salient portion successful the Blues’s pre-season, lone to endure different hamstring wounded successful the last minutes earlier helium was owed to beryllium substituted astatine the extremity of the club’s US tour.

Maresca will, presumably, instrumentality a cautious attack with a subordinate who has made conscionable 19 league starts since the opening of 2022-23 but, erstwhile fit, is inactive among the club’s 2 oregon 3 best. It remains to beryllium seen whether helium volition adjacent beryllium acceptable to beryllium among the substitutes for Sunday’s travel to Liverpool.

Broader picture, though, determination is lone truthful agelong Maresca and Chelsea tin spend to wait.

This summer, with Malo Gusto having impressed past season, the nine decided not to motion a caller specializer right-back successful the anticipation that helium and James would dovetail. Already, though, with James sidelined they person been exposed by a insignificant wounded to Gusto, which near Maresca utilizing the likes of Axel Disasi, Moises Caicedo and Tosin Adarabioyo retired of presumption astir the past planetary break.

There were precedence needs elsewhere past summer, astir of which were addressed, arsenic a good commencement to the play shows. But arsenic Chelsea’s squad gets stronger and becomes much balanced, the fig of positions successful request of reinforcement each transportation model ought to shrink and if James cannot enactment acceptable past possibly arsenic aboriginal arsenic January, determination whitethorn beryllium a superior question astir whether to recruit.

Chelsea could trust connected their nine skipper for conscionable 482 minutes crossed competitions past play and nary astatine each truthful acold this term. Their squad is deeper than most, but Maresca’s privation for 2 players competing for each presumption is hardly unjustified, fixed a marathon run whitethorn not reason until the Club World Cup last successful mid-July.

Chelsea are hopeless for James to travel bully and rediscover the signifier that made him possibly the division’s champion full-back nether archetypal Frank Lampard and past Tuchel, not slightest due to the fact that helium has 4 years near to tally connected a declaration worthy a reported £250,000-a-week.

Get backmost connected the parkland for Chelsea and by the clip Tuchel names his archetypal England squad astir 5 months from now, James whitethorn good beryllium worthy a place.