CHELSEA have confirmed that Reece James is now beginning a recovery programme after undergoing a successful knee surgery after picking up an injury in training.
The captain was absent from the Blues’ Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Bournemouth, as he underwent assessments following picking up the injury during the week.
It is expected that the English rightback will out of action for three months.
James recently withdrew from international duty with England recently, and has suffered numerous setbacks in recent years.
In a club statement, Chelsea said: “The 26-year-old was absent from Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge while medical assessments took place following the injury suffered in training. Those assessments confirmed surgery would be the required course of action.
Reece has already begun his road to recovery and will be supported by the club’s medical department at Cobham during his rehabilitation action.”
Everyone at Chelsea wishes Reece a speedy recovery and will support him on his road to return.”
James Injury History
According to Transfermarkt, this knee injury will be the 26th different setback that James has suffered throughout his career. This has resulted in the Englishman missing over 145 matches for club & country.
He could now miss out on potentially 18 games during the three-month recovery period. During this time, Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea side will have many tough clashes against sides at the top of the table, such as Tottenham, Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City.
The former Wigan loanee has faced a series of ankle, knee and hamstring issues, which have forced him to miss 743 days of football since the 2019/20 season.
🚨Matches Reece James could miss if out until mid-January:
Everton (A)
Tottenham (H)
Liverpool (A) [LC]
Man Utd (H)
Sunderland (A)
Leeds (H)
Nottingham Forest (A)
Palace (H)
Liverpool (H)
Man City (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Coventry (A)
Ipswich (A)
Newcastle (H)
Palace (A)
- FA Cup R3 & any LC QF & SF.
Return? 16/1: Sunderland (H) ❓https://t.co/WMiCn2WMKV— CFCDaily (@CFCDaily) October 16, 2026
He did look to have put his injury worries behind him, going almost a year without facing any signifcant time out, but will now likely not return to football until the new year.
The 26-year-old has featured in midfield for Chelsea this season instead of playing down the right hand side, with the Blues still having plenty of depth in Moises Caicedo, Jordan Henderson, Romeo Lavia and Valentin Barco.
In a statement after an injury three years ago, he said: “Believe me, I don’t want to be injured. I’m happiest when I’m playing football.”
