Chelsea right-back Reece James had to leave the Blues’ game against Bournemouth due to an injury.
The right-back, who missed the World Cup due to a knee injury he sustained in October, indicated he needed to leave the match just five minutes into the second half.
He briefly received treatment on the field before he made his way back to the bench.
Graham Potter decided to insert him back into the lineup for the first time since his knee injury against AC Milan. But the decision backfired as the English defender ended the game with another injury.
Chelsea defeated Bournemouth by a score of 2-0 to halt their five-game Premier League losing streak.
As the Cherries battled to gain control of the game, Mason Mount doubled the lead with a perfectly put long-range shot after Kai Havertz had opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the season.
During the first period, James didn’t exhibit many signs of rust, but when he had to leave the game in the 53rd, things went wrong.
Despite looking like he was in pain, he managed to walk away on his own.
James put in a lot of effort to recover from his previous injury. He had to travel to Abu Dhabi with the rest of his Blues colleagues for their mid-season training camp just to keep fit.
James participated in their exhibition match against Brentford last week after making a successful comeback from injury.
Graham Potter, the manager of Chelsea, stated after Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Bournemouth that he did not anticipate the right-back to play the whole 90 minutes, but that he would have preferred to have removed the England international under more favorable conditions.
It is unclear if James’ initial injury has worsened or if he has sustained a new knock as he requested to be removed from the game. James appeared to be pointing to his knee.
On Prime Video’s coverage of the game, Joe Cole praised the fullback for his “straightaway got back up to speed” and for his great performance.
After the game, the Chelsea manager was unwilling to say anything about the severity of James’ injury.
The impact of what would be yet another setback in the football career of the 23-year-old is yet to be seen.
Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta took his place, and Chelsea went on to defeat the Cherries 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Next month, Chelsea will play Manchester City twice in four days, and before the month is up, they will also visit Liverpool.
James might not be available for the first leg of the Borussia Dortmund vs. Borussia Dortmund Champions League matchup on February 15 if he has another protracted injury.
