It has been almost 12 months since Chelsea last won a Premier League game with Reece James starting, and two years since they achieved back-to-back wins with him involved. Chelsea’s captain, Reece James, has been sidelined with injuries and hasn’t played this season. Instead, Enzo Fernandez led the team out at West Ham, with Moises Caicedo taking the armband in the second half. While his team played, James was in the gym, posting an image of himself sweating, working toward his recovery.
Enzo Maresca, when asked about James’ return, said bluntly.
Enzo Maresca said “Wait until he’s fit. Reece is still out.”
James was banned for the first three domestic games but has also suffered yet another setback with an injury.
Enzo Maresca said “Unfortunately, we do not have an idea at the moment,. In terms of injuries in the past, we always hope that we can find the right solution. We planned on changing him after 65 minutes and he got the injury on 62 or 63. Hopefully, we can have him back as soon as possible and fit.”
In James’ absence, Malo Gusto has been filling in at right-back, but he was also ruled out with a hamstring problem. Maresca chose Wesley Fofana as a makeshift replacement, though Fofana was seen hobbling at full-time. Maresca downplayed concerns about Fofana’s condition:
Enzo Maresca said “No, no, no [it’s not serious]. The reason why we changed him is because we try to protect him a little bit. In the second half, they changed [Mohammed] Kudus to this side and it was probably a big risk to keep him, but there is not any injury. Wes is a player I really love and we love with Wes because he is doing fantastic after one year of injury. For any player that is out for a year, it is not easy and he is doing top. This is the only thing we want from him.”
