Reece James has not trained outdoors with his Chelsea teammates at Cobham on Tuesday. Enzo Maresca’s side are preparing to face Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Friday in a crucial Premier League clash.
Christopher Nkunku also missed the session with Marc Guiu back to individual work. The latter has been out since February 3 and Maresca revealed last week that he is close to returning to the squad.
Nkunku was always a doubt for this game with Maresca explaining ahead of the Djurgarden Conference League semi-final second leg that it would be another 10-15 days before he would be available again. James is a much bigger worry.
He has managed to stay fit for all of 2025 after a torrid couple of years with injury problems. The club captain played 45 minutes from the bench against Newcastle United on Sunday.
James had Chelsea’s best chance of the game late on, heading Malo Gusto’s cross over the bar after a strong second-half performance with 10 men. He also returned to his usual right-sided spot before Gusto’s introduction.
Maresca has used James mainly in midfield in the Premier League and Conference League this season. As a tactical ploy and a way to reduce James’ physical workload, the England star has been carefully managed and will invert from the right into midfield even when not starting games there.
Having missed the start of the season through a hamstring injury picked up at the end of the summer tour of America (and a suspension), James only managed four appearances before being sidelined once more. He returned from another lengthy lay-off at the end of January and has been present ever since.
Although James has been on the bench domestically of late due to Romeo Lavia’s own return pushing Moises Caicedo to right-back when Chelsea are not in possession, he remains a crucial member of the squad. James has only missed one game this calendar year and that came through illness.
The 25-year-old has marked his sustained fitness with a selection in the latest England squad as well. In March he was named as part of Thomas Tuchel’s side and played for the first time since early 2023.
James is favoured by Tuchel as a wing-back, where he made his name at Chelsea after coming through the academy. In the second World Cup qualifying match he scored his first for his country with a sublime free-kick.
Chelsea know that anything but a win on Friday against United will leave them in a perilous position in the race for a top five finish. They could briefly move up to third in the table with a five-goal win ahead of the weekend’s matches with Manchester City not playing until next Tuesday due to FA Cup final commitments.
Aston Villa are in action at home to Tottenham on Friday as well and look to be Chelsea’s biggest rivals after Nottingham Forest dropped points against Leicester City. Chelsea have a massively superior goal difference to Villa so can be almost certain that six points from their final two games will be enough to finish above them.
Meanwhile, Manchester United have their focus on the Europa League final with Tottenham a week on Wednesday. They are aiming to find a backway into the Champions League after a disastrous domestic season sees them just above the relegation zone.
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