Chelsea have revealed that their squad has been bolstered by the captain Reece James after he underwent a minor knee operation that has been reported as very successful. However, it is thought that the full-back will be sidelined for as long as 3 months.
The 26-year-old had been suffering from a knee injury and was absent at the recent match at home to Brentford, who defeated the Blues 3-0 and later the 5-1 win over Bournemouth.
According to the club statement, the captain has joined James for the recovery stage, which marks the first phase of the club’s rehabilitation plan, though the length of his lay-off has still been withheld to the public.
This season, James has been a mainstay of the Chelsea starting line-up, having been on the pitch and in the team for six games, and at the moment the Blues are only sixth in the Premier League table so that after playing Everton this Saturday.
Alonso now looking for alternatives in defense
Alonso will now have to find James’ replacement at right-back as the player has suffered numerous fitness issues since becoming a first-team regular.
Pedro Neto will probably stay at right-wing-back position as he was there when the Blues defeated Bournemouth 1-5. Also, summer acquisition Marco Palestra has been out injured but has returned to the squad.
This new twist came just after James was on the field fairly frequently last season with the Blues. He played no fewer than 44 games, a number not reached even in the last couple of seasons since 2020-21, when he got on the pitch a record 47 times for the club.
Blue has a weak defensive line
If conceding fewer goals is their main concern, the Blues are definitely not getting closer to goalkeeping clean sheets as their total of defensive errors is 13, second lowest in the league. They have been able to maintain their attacking momentum by scoring 15.
Moreover, the Blues have been scoring in each of their last 22 Premier League matches thus being only at a hair’s breadth from breaking their own club’s unwanted record.
They still hold the record for the longest period of 31 games without scoring a league clean sheet made in the span of November August 1960 and August 1961.
