Reece James picked up a hamstring injury in Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat at Everton on Sunday, Mauricio Pochettino confirmed. The 24-year-old injured his hamstring in August and was out until October, but he’s suffered a setback two months later.
James started at right-back against the Toffees, but he lasted less than half an hour before being replaced. Levi Colwill came on for the Chelsea skipper and Pochettino told reporters that James could be out for a while.
The Blues manager said: “Reece felt something in his hamstring. For sure he’s injured, but we don’t know how serious it is. He is an important player, one of the best full-backs in the world.”
James suffered a hamstring injury near the end of last season, missing seven league games in April and May. He missed seven league games between August and October through injury too, so he’s had a disrupted year.
The England international has made nine appearances in all competitions this season, amassing just 451 minutes of playing time. James has already missed 10 games across the board and Pochettino admits he doesn’t know when the right-back will return.
He added: “We are disappointed because (we) believe (we) can build something and a player like him who should be really important for us can’t help the team. We go back and assess again in the next few days what is going on with his hamstring.”
James has made 106/168 Premier League appearances since rising through the youth ranks to Chelsea’s first-team in 2019. The 24-year-old missed 14 games in 2019/20, six games in 2020/21, 12 games in 2021/22 and 22 games in 2022/23.
He’s been unable to shake the injury problems, so Chelsea were forced to sign Malo Gusto as competition in January. Gusto has struggled of late, being out with a knee ligament injury since November, so right-back is a problem area.
Chelsea face Sheffield United on December 16, but it remains to be seen if Janes or Gusto will feature. Pochettino could be without Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke, Trevor Chalobah, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka, Robert Sanchez and Marc Cucurella for the clash, so Chelsea’s squad is looking light.
In other news, Chelsea suffered a third consecutive away defeat in the Premier League on Sunday
