Reece James, the captain of Chelsea, is recovering from an injury and might play against Arsenal after the international break in October.
The right-back has been sidelined since the Blues’ 1-1 Premier League season-opening draw at home to Liverpool due to a hamstring injury.
In that scoreless draw with the Reds, Mauricio Pochettino’s team appeared promising, but since then, they have only recorded one Premier League victory.
With five points from their first six games, Chelsea has slipped to 14th place, and Pochettino has struggled with injuries early in his time at Stamford Bridge.
The Daily Mail claims that James, who is speeding up his recuperation from his hamstring issue, will soon return, giving him a boost.
James is rumored to make his comeback on October 21 when Chelsea host Arsenal in west London, albeit it is improbable that he will do so before the October internationals.
Chelsea will play in that game for the first time since playing two straight away Premier League games prior to the break. On October 2, Pochettino leads his team to rival Fulham before taking them to Burnley the following weekend.
James hasn’t played in more than a month, but the FA has nevertheless charged him for verbally insulting a referee in the tunnel on Sunday after Chelsea’s 1-0 home loss to Aston Villa.
“Reece James has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3 following Chelsea’s Premier League game against Aston Villa on Sunday, September 24, according to a statement from the FA. The defense is accused of acting inappropriately, disrespectful, abusively, and/or abusively against a match official in the tunnel after the game.
Malo Gusto has frequently acted as James’ backup at right-back. Despite being one of Chelsea’s top players, the young Frenchman was dismissed in that match against Aston Villa because of a careless challenge.
