Chelsea have been dealt a major injury blow with captain Reece James facing another prolonged spell on the sidelines after undergoing knee surgery.
The Blues confirmed on Friday morning that James had undergone “successful minor knee surgery”, deemed the required course of action after further medical assessments. No timeframe was given for his recovery, but Standard Sport understands he is expected to be back playing in around three months.
James suffers fresh setback
James initially missed Chelsea’s defeat at Brentford before the international break with a hamstring injury that also ruled him out of England selection for the Nations League. With an extended three-week window to recover, he rejoined training and was expected to be fit to start against Bournemouth.
However, he then suffered a knee injury at Cobham that head coach Xabi Alonso initially described as “little”, ruling him out of the 5-1 win over Bournemouth.
“Reece has already begun his road to recovery and will be supported by the club's medical department at Cobham during this rehabilitation phase,” Chelsea said. “Everyone at Chelsea wishes Reece a speedy recovery and will support him on his road to return.”
Gittens and Emegha latest
Jamie Gittens is the other Chelsea player definitely unavailable for the Everton trip. The winger suffered an ankle injury while playing for England’s Under-21s in a European Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan at Molineux last month.
“He is not going to be fit for tomorrow,” Alonso said before the Bournemouth game. “That is the bad news from this international break, that he picked up an injury in his ankle. He is going to be out for a few weeks.”
Emmanuel Emegha has yet to play competitively for Chelsea since arriving from Strasbourg in the summer. He scored in back-to-back behind-closed-doors friendlies against Crawley and Bromley, but picked up a hamstring injury against the latter. He has been spotted in training footage this week and could be involved against Everton.
