Chelsea star Reece James. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Speaking in the pre-match press conference (h/t Football.London), Chelsea boss Graham Potter has confirmed that defender Reece James is back fit and should be available for selection ahead of the Premier League clash against Bournemouth.
The England international, who missed out on a chance to represent his country in the World Cup after a knee injury he picked up against AC Milan on October 11, was back in training during Chelsea’s mid-season training camp in Abu Dhabi earlier this month.
In the subsequent games the 22-year-old missed for Chelsea, the team did look short on creativity from wide areas and there was a lack of quality on that side of the field.
Here’s what Potter said when asked about the fitness and availability of James (h/t Football.London):
“Reece [James] is back in and completed 65 minutes in the week.”
We need to be careful with fitness issues of James though as this was the second time in the last 12 months that he has picked a long-term injury. The first was the hamstring tear he picked up last December.
As a result of that, we have seen reports in the last few weeks that Chelsea are looking to sign a right-back to add cover in that position and help the 22-year-old. Inter Milan’s Denzel Dumfries is one of the names linked with the Stamford Bridge outfit.
On the other hand, while getting James is good news, Chelsea have lost Armando Broja for the rest of this season, while Wesley Fofana is out for another few weeks and Ben Chilwell is still recovering from the hamstring injury he picked up days before the World Cup.
The Blues resume their campaign with a home league game against Bournemouth. The Cherries themselves have issues to deal with as they have got players out due to a virus. So, a lot can happen in terms of player availability for them till the time this game kicks off on December 27.
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