Chelsea star Reece James has suffered a ‘frustrating and hugely disappointing’ setback after being forced off during the Blues’ win over Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge, injury expert Ben Dinnery has told GiveMeSport.
Graham Potter’s side resumed their Premier League campaign by sealing a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Mason Mount, but it came at a cost.
Chelsea injury news – Reece James
According to MailOnline, James appeared to be in pain when he picked up a knee injury shortly after the interval during Chelsea’s clash with Bournemouth.
The report suggests the right-back signalled he needed to come off just five minutes into the second half and received treatment on the pitch before walking off unassisted.
Chelsea released a statement on Wednesday afternoon, which confirmed James is set to be out of action for up to a month.
The England international’s personal trainer James Ralph was left seething after the latest problem and suggested there were issues behind the scenes by saying he is ‘biting his tongue’ in a now-deleted social media post.
The issue came during James’ first competitive appearance since sustaining a knee injury during a Champions League clash with AC Milan in October, which resulted in him visiting a specialist and his dreams of heading to the World Cup being left in tatters.
What has Ben Dinnery said about James?
Dinnery is hopeful of James’ setback being minor and only keeping him out of action for a matter of weeks rather than months.
The injury news journalist is concerned by the latest blow as it surfaced after he came through a friendly against Brentford, which took place prior to the resumption of competitive action, unscathed.
Dinnery told GiveMeSport: “We just hope that maybe it’s more on that minor end of the scale, as opposed to something that’s going to keep him out again for a couple of months.
“It’s frustrating and hugely disappointing. He came through that behind closed doors game against Brentford without any problems. He had been pencilled in to complete 60-65 minutes on Tuesday night and, obviously, he couldn’t quite reach that point.”
Will James’ absence be a blow for Chelsea?
According to WhoScored, Kepa Arrizabalaga is the only Chelsea star to have bettered James’ average match rating of 7.08 since the Premier League campaign got underway, so it is clear that he will be sorely missed.
The 23-year-old has chalked up four goal contributions in 12 appearances this season and Potter will need to find another option to provide clear-cut opportunities.
His presence in the backline has also been huge, with Sofascore statistics showing he has averaged 2.1 tackles, 0.9 interceptions and as many clearances per top flight outing.
With that being the case, the £250,000-per-week full-back’s absence will leave Potter with a major void to fill and he could decide to dip into the transfer market when the winter window opens on Sunday.
Source: Give Me SportFollow
