Chelsea captain Reece James has sustained another hamstring injury which could keep him out for several weeks.
James, who signed a new six-year contract to stay at the club last week, missed open training with the rest of the Chelsea squad on Monday – ahead of the Champions League last 16 decider against Paris Saint-Germain.
Sources, speaking anonymously to The Athletic to protect relationships, said James was expected to be sidelined for a number of weeks, with Liam Rosenior, the Chelsea head coach, expected to provide an update when he addresses the media on Monday afternoon.
This is the 10th different hamstring injury James has had to either leg since December 2020 and comes at the worst possible time for Chelsea.
Rosenior’s side have dropped to sixth in the Premier League table after winning just one of their last five league games.
They take on PSG at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, trailing the Ligue 1 club 5-2 from the first match last week. Chelsea are still in the FA Cup and have a winnable quarter final at home to Port Vale on April 4.
James looked a certainty to be named in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup but will now miss the friendlies later this month against Uruguay and Japan.
Tuchel must name his World Cup squad by FIFA’s deadline of May 30. England’s first match is on June 17 and the final is on July 19.
Chelsea’s last game of the season is at Sunderland on May 24, which is 10 weeks from today.
James, who has played regularly for the past 15 months after being managed carefully by the club, was asked on Friday how he felt fitness-wise. He replied: “I’m in a really good place at the moment, my body’s feeling good. I’m playing on a regular basis, two or three games a week and I just try and help the team as much as I can and do what’s right.”
Another battle with injury
Analysis by Chelsea correspondent Simon Johnson
Not for the first time in his career, James is facing a battle to make a full recovery from injury to make an England World Cup squad.
James will undoubtedly be upset about potentially not being able to help Chelsea for much of the run-in but he is surely going to have concerns that history could be about to repeat itself with the national team.
The 26-year-old missed out on being selected for the 2022 World Cup due to suffering a knee injury a month before the squad was announced. James resumed training before the tournament but then head coach Gareth Southgate opted not to take a risk. It left the player ‘devastated’.
James has much more time to work with here. Tuchel has until May 30 to name his 26-man squad for tournament, which is being hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico.
The Chelsea defender, who can also play in midfield, also has the comfort that Tuchel knows him very well from his time as manager at Stamford Bridge between January 2021-September 2022. Tuchel brought James back into the England fold 12 months ago ending a two-year spell without a cap. He has played six times under the German and before this setback, looked the favourite to start for him at the World Cup at right back.
England do have other options although not without issues themselves.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has started just eight times in La Liga for Real Madrid. Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento has recently returned from a hamstring injury himself and has just three caps to his name. Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) has featured under Tuchel on eight occasions in various positions, including right back. Ben White, who has not played for England since 2022, has not been a regular for Arsenal this season.
Both James and Tuchel will hope he can get over this latest injury to be included.