World class player back in training for Chelsea – and a new role could be perfect for him | OneFootball

Reece James has been pictured back in what appears to be full team training with Chelsea.

James has been out since August, but looks to now finally be closing in on a return, a month later than initially expected.

The full back picked up his latest injury on the eve of the new season, just after a solid preseason. That was a heart-breaking moment all around, given he had surgery last year to try and end his injury woes once and for all, and this latest setback seemed to confirm that his problems would continue.

We hope that these delays in getting him back out there are simply a result of extra caution from the new medical staff – who seem to be doing a great job with being careful with integrated crocked stars so far.

You can see James train in the picture embedded here:

Reece James in full team training for Chelsea at Cobham.

The future for crocked captain

We’re long beyond the point of ever being able to rely on James, and as we’ve written before, this squad needs to be built around the idea that he’s not available – his fitness should be a bonus, not a given.

But for all we’ve been burned before, you just never know. Even if he can only stay healthy for a month or two, that’s a lot of games where he can make a difference. If there’s one thing we’ve noticed over the years it’s that James can come back from a long spell out and make a difference right away.

Given Malo Gusto is a great option on the right, maybe James can be consistently used off the bench for a while to see how he gets on. Reece James as an impact sub? Now that is a luxury we can get on board with.