Chelsea missed the perfect opportunity to sell Reece James and re-sign his bootleg

Reece James has missed 90 games through injury in his Chelsea career and made just 79 Premier League starts. The Blues should have re-signed his imitation when they still had the chance.

Reece James was Chelsea’s best player against Tottenham on Monday. On his first Premier League start since the opening day, it looked as though he hadn’t been away, keeping his head as everyone around him lost theirs. It came as no great surprise. When Reece James plays, he’s usually Chelsea’s best player, because he is Chelsea’s best player. The problem is of course that he rarely plays.

It’s not a great sign that his injury history on Transfermarkt requires a second page to list all his ailments. He’s had 17 periods of absence since coming into the first-team squad in 2019. He’s been out of action for a total of 472 days and missed 90 games. To put that in some context, James has started 116 games across all competitions in his Chelsea career and 79 in the Premier League.

As concerning as the number of injuries is the variety of them. He’s been out with ankle, knee, hamstring and thigh problems, with his calves the apparent stronghold in a game of Reece James Leg Operation™.

His personal trainer took to social media in December 2022 after James’ return after two months out with a knee injury lasted just 53 minutes, claiming ‘I need to bite my tongue despite having a LOT to say’. Trevoh Chalobah’s trainer took a similar swipe at the medical department earlier this year. And even without those whistle-blowers, the sheer volume of injuries at Chelsea would suggest something’s not quite right.

Real Madrid’s medical department may be better, and the Spanish giants continue to court James having first signalled their interest in the full-back in the summer of 2022. Carlo Ancelotti wanted, and still wants, James to replace Dani Carvajal.

James has achieved his “dream” of becoming Chelsea captain and Mauricio Pochettino views him as ‘an important part of his project’ at Stamford Bridge. But there were also reports over the summer that Chelsea could be tempted by a ‘ridiculous offer’. Had it arrived, they would have been wise to take it.

At that point they could have re-signed Tino Livramento due to the buyback clause they inserted in the deal that took him to Southampton for £5m two years before – a move he made in search of the first-team football Chelsea couldn’t guarantee because of James. That problem remains.

Livramento is not as good as James; he may never be as good as him. But he is better than Malo Gusto. The young Frenchman has proven to be a serviceable back-up for Chelsea this season, but he’s a step down from Livramento, who has too much talent to be an understudy, which is the best Chelsea could offer him, both when he left the club and when they had the chance to bring him back.

He’s been brilliant for Newcastle in recent weeks, tearing Manchester United apart with his powerful dribbling, reducing Gabriel Martinelli’s threat to nothing against Arsenal, displaying his versatility in a new role against Borussia Dortmund. He’s a lot like James. An imitation, a bootleg version as things stand, but a good one. He’s also had a long time out through injury, but all due to the same incident, fixed (fingers crossed) with surgery.

The problem for Chelsea is they couldn’t, and can’t, use James’ past injuries, consistent though they’ve been, as a carrot to persuade quality right-backs to join or stay at the club. He might never get injured again, in which case he will always play in the biggest games, for what could be close to a decade given he’s just 23. It means Chelsea will have mediocre back-up right-backs while James remains, that will likely end up playing far more than the average stand-in due to the glass legs of their captain.

Ben Chilwell has created a similar problem at left-back. Like James, he’s always injured, but blocked the path Lewis Hall was on to the first team, pushing him to Newcastle in the summer. But Chilwell, as we saw before he got injured this season, isn’t as assured of a starting spot as James, nor is he anywhere close to his level. His absences will never be as keenly felt.

It makes far less sense to accept an offer from Madrid now than in the summer. Even if it is ‘ridiculous’, Chelsea don’t need the money; it’s not about that. They’ve missed the perfect opportunity to re-sign Livramento, who ‘knows the club’ having come through the academy, more importantly, is really bloody good, and may well end up with far more England caps than the perennially injured star man who forced his exit and blocked his return.