Chelsea captain Reece James don pass through knee surgery and e go miss about three months of action. The defender, 26, injure imself for training before Chelsea 5-1 win over Bournemouth last weekend, and na then dem decide say surgery na the correct step.
Chelsea talk for one statement say the operation successful, and James don start hin recovery. The club medical department dey support am at Cobham during this rehabilitation phase.
BBC Sport report say James dey set to miss three months. But manager Xabi Alonso no gree put exact timeframe, e only talk say e go take “several weeks”.
Alonso talk say: “E no go be two or three-week thing, e go take longer and after that we go see. Before Christmas, after Christmas, time go tell. Things get to dey done properly so that e go feel right and dey in the best possible condition. E be disappointment for everybody, for am, but we need to get squad to deal with injuries. We support am, e go stay close to the team, e get great influence even when e no dey available, and we wish am the best recovery.”
When dem ask am whether the injury go push the club to sign replacement for the January transfer window, Alonso talk no. E talk say dem expect James back before January.
James don suffer plenty injuries over the past few seasons, and e make am miss several international tournaments with England since the 2022 World Cup for Qatar. But hin injury record improve well last season, and e play big role in England World Cup campaign, where dem reach semi-finals before dem win the bronze medal match.
E be one of the players wey withdraw from England duty during the most recent international break. The next international break start for beginning of November, when England suppose face Croatia for Wembley Stadium.
Chelsea next go Everton for Premier League before dem host London rivals Tottenham and Manchester United for one difficult run of fixtures. A trip to Liverpool for Carabao Cup dey sandwiched between those two home matches.
Last season vice-captain Enzo Fernandez join Manchester City in the summer for a joint-British transfer record of £125m. Alonso give defender Levi Colwill the armband for the last two Premier League matches against Brentford and Bournemouth.
Alonso explain: “We get Moi, we get Levi, we get players wey take responsibility and carry that role in a perfect way. Dem get the support from the rest and the players respect them when dem wear the armband, so e no bother. Na their own personality. Each one different. Levi different from Reece, Moi different, Cole, Hendo. Each one different, Dibu (Emiliano Martinez) as well.”
