Well, the inevitable has happened. Reece James has picked up a preseason injury which threatens to rule him out of the start of the season, according to Simon Johnson of the Athletic.
James started all 5 of our preseason games so far – two a week for 3 weeks. It was inevitable that he was going to break down at some point before the 6th game.
Johnson is quick to stress that the hamstring injury is “minor”, and that Chelsea will “err on the side of caution” when it comes to bringing him back, given his awful injury record. He started just 5 Premier League games last season, and had surgery in December to try and put an end to the endless issues he picks up. That’s already starting to look like a failed gamble.
A tough strategic situation
James was an interesting position already for the start of this season. He’s banned for the first 3 league games, meaning he was going to have to sit them out then likely play in the two legged Conference League qualifiers on the 22nd and the 28th of this month to stay fit. Now he’ll likely miss those. So really, all this preseason fitness work was for nothing, as he will now be without match action for more than a month.
September 14th, after the international break, is apparently already being considered as a potential return date. But as we know all too well, even the most minor of hamstring issues can end up dragging on, and on, and on.
Malo Gusto is ready to fill in for James at right back – but that then creates some very interesting battles at left back, with Ben Chilwell having been largely frozen out so far, and Marc Cucurella only having returned to training this week.
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