Chelsea full-back Reece James has been out of action since December of 2023 but even then, Gareth Southgate has refused to rule him out for the upcoming EURO 2024.
James had to undergo surgery to repair his hamstring issue and since then, he has been continuing his rehabilitation process. Chelsea manager Pochettino has not been able to provide an exact return date for Reece James but the Three Lions manager is hoping the defender can play some game in the EURO.
Southgate said[h/t Fotmob]: “No, we don’t have an exact date for him coming back but we would hope he would have some games before the Euros.
“Could he play seven games in the Euros? His record over the last few years would suggest no. But is he a top-level player who could provide something important, no question.
“So yeah again he is another one who the first step is get back into training, get back into the team and build that physical resistance as quickly as possible.”
Reece James is yet to return to training with the rest of the Chelsea squad and there’s no denying that the right-back’s career has been halted by constant injuries.
Since the 2020/21 season, the England international has missed more than 50 games for Chelsea due to various injuries and this campaign, he’s already been sidelined for 31 games.
Reece James has played only 390 minutes of league football this season and even if he is fit by the end of the season, we doubt if Southgate will make him a regular starter at the EUROs.
Man City’s Kyle Walker is going to be the one who will get the nod at right-back for England and Southgate also has Joe Gomez who can play in that position. From the England manager’s claims, it’s clear that Reece James is going to be on the plane to the European Championship but he will most likely not be included in the starting line-ups.
33-year-old Walker has been in stellar form for Man City this season so even if Reece James was fully fit, Walker would have been the preference. However, for Chelsea, the scenario is completely different because Pochettino has been using Malo Gusto as his first-choice right-back and the manager would love to have James back in action for the final few weeks of the campaign.
