Reece James, a defender for Chelsea, is expected to miss up to a month after regressing from his knee injury against Bournemouth on Tuesday 27 December 2022.
Reece James, who suffered a knee injury during Tuesday’s 2-0 Premier League victory over Bournemouth, will be sidelined for the next month, according to Chelsea.
The 23-year-old, who was making his comeback after missing the entire month of October due to a knee injury, played only 53 minutes of the match against the Cherries.
After a scan revealed that the defender had experienced “a setback,” Chelsea announced that the England international will be out for at least a month.
James started working out again earlier this month while Chelsea was in Abu Dhabi for a week. The next week at Cobham, he participated in a friendly game versus Brentford behind closed doors to speed up his recovery.
That was sufficient to persuade Graham Potter and the club’s medical staff that James was prepared to start against Bournemouth.
After being replaced during Tuesday night’s 2-0 Premier League victory over AFC Bournemouth due to a knee injury, defender Reece James underwent evaluation earlier today, according to a statement on Chelsea’s official website.
After leaving Stamford Bridge on Wednesday wearing a knee brace, James got a scan, the findings of which confirmed the severity of the 23-year Old injury. James’ original knee injury against AC Milan in October resulted in an eight-week absence from the action.
In the six Premier League games he was absent, Potter’s team managed just one victory and two draws, which corresponded with Chelsea’s dismal run of play leading up to the competition.
James opened up on social media about his “toughest year to date” before the extent of the injury could be determined.
“The worst year so far has been 2022. In an Instagram post, he said, “I just wanted to thank you all for the support this year; none of it has gone forgotten”.
Due to the most recent injury, Chelsea’s FA Cup third-round encounter against Manchester City as well as five Premier League games could be lost by the right-back.
Graham Potter, the manager of Chelsea, said that the team was “concerned” after the victory over Bournemouth because the injury was to the same area that had kept James out for so long.
In 12 appearances for Chelsea this season, James has two goals and two assists.
On Sunday, Chelsea will play struggling Premier League team Nottingham Forest. Chelsea is now eighth in the league and is six points behind Tottenham in fourth.
James has received yet another blow, but it might have been far worse. A player may require surgery and miss an even longer amount of time if they sustain repeated injuries to the same body part, such as the knee.
However, Chelsea has already started its backup plan, according to the most recent rumours, with Potter’s team reportedly looking to sign Celtic right-back Josip Juranovic in case James’ injury problems worsen.
The full-back has been given a month to recover from his injury, so James will be hoping to be fully healthy by the end of January.
