Some Chelsea fans on Twitter sang the praises of Reece James after comparison with Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
James has been widely regarded as one of the best talents Chelsea’s academy system has produced in recent years. The 20-year-old was named Wigan Athletic’s player of the year during his loan spell at the Championship side last season and is now part of Frank Lampard’s youth force at Chelsea.
Although, with the club’s captain Cesar Azpilicueta playing in the same position, James hasn’t featured as much as he would’ve hoped for. But in those 26 appearances in all competitions, James has shown glimpses of a top-quality fullback Chelsea can rely on for the upcoming seasons.
(Photo by Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
The football statistics platform Squawka was asked on Twitter about how James has fared this season in comparison to two other young English fullbacks, Alexander-Arnold and Wan-Bissaka.
The statistics show, despite Alexander-Arnold and Wan-Bissaka’s edging the Chelsea defender in some fields, James appears to be a more well-rounded defender. James has also won more duels and completed more take-ons than his two compatriots.
COMPARED: Reece James vs. Trent Alexander-Arnold vs. Aaron Wan-Bissaka per 90 in the Premier League this season.#AskSquawka | @StrawHat_Huskar pic.twitter.com/SvY3RJteaL
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) March 14, 2020
Some Chelsea fans on Twitter have had their say on the matter:
RJ is just TAA + AWB, and it’s perfect.
— NMX (@120Nmx) March 14, 2020
Reece James is a combination of both and on steroids, the guy is awesome.
— PrimeTimeOdoi (@OdoiTime) March 14, 2020
Reece James the most complete out of the three. Nothing new or surprising.
— MO (@_DaM0) March 14, 2020
Stat speaks it more
James is miles ahead this two pic.twitter.com/ikoBVAF7tG— Christian Pulisic 🇺🇲 (@_CPulisicSZN) March 15, 2020
TAA = most creative. AWB = best defensively. Reece James = best of both worlds. Comparable defensive stats to AWB and offensive numbers to TAA. Younger than both of them and still only playing his first Premier League season. Reece James is Chelsea’s most promising youngster 👏🏻 https://t.co/JTuAwrVQpt
— Ishan Shah (@ishanshah04) March 14, 2020