Reece James of Chelsea leaves the field injured against AC Milan as Jorginho watches in the background. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Chelsea have released a statement confirming that English star Reece James will not undergo surgery on the knee issue he suffered during the game against AC Milan, but went on to claim that the talented full-back is expected to be out for eight weeks, as quoted by Express.
The timeline that the Blues have given on James’ injury has put his World Cup hopes in jeopardy with the showpiece event in Qatar not so far away. It comes as a huge blow for Gareth Southgate’s men.
The silver lining is the fact that James will not go under the knife which would have definitely ruled him out of the World Cup but even now, it’s touch and go and there is a huge chance he doesn’t make the flight to Qatar.
Even if James does miraculously manage to get fit in time for the World Cup, he will be lacking match fitness and it will be too huge a risk for Southgate to take in such a huge event as it has chances of back-firing.
Reece James has established himself as the starting right-back for Southgate and with Kyle Walker also expected to miss the World Cup, suddenly England find themselves scrambling for options.
Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold is likely to get the nod but it is no secret that Southgate doesn’t trust him much. James’ injury has thrown the spanner in the works, not only for England but also Chelsea.
The Blues squad doesn’t have a natural replacement for James in the squad. In his absence, the most likely option to play in the right-back role is our ever-versatile captain Cesar Azpilicueta and the Spaniard is no stranger to that position.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek has also played there under Thomas Tuchel whilst one of the two left-backs in Ben Chilwell or Marc Cucurella could be fielded on the opposite side. A left-field choice like Trevoh Chalobah could also be an option.
Considering his influence on this team, James is a huge miss for Chelsea. Let’s hope he recovers well from this injury and comes back at the same level he was showing since the start of the season.
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