One of the highlights of pre-season so far for Chelsea has been one of their most talented players being regularly available to feature.
Reece James again fell on hard luck when it came to injuries last season, seeing him hardly feature in the year of 2024.
He will also be absent for the opening games of next season after being sent off for the second time last season against Brighton.
However, he now has 45 minutes under his belt in pre-season, albeit featuring in a new role.
James said he was a fan of the midfield role that the system saw him playing, with that position likely to be key for Enzo Maresca going into next season.
Nicol warns James about future injuries at Chelsea
The most important thing ahead of the new campaign though is the club captain remaining fit, and Steve Nicol told ESPN some advice he has for the 24-year-old going into the upcoming season.
He said: “If there is any sort of double or he feels anything, then he has to stop. You know, he has reached that I was at myself. I missed almost a season back in 86-87 and I came into the season with exactly that thought in my head.
“It’s one training session, one game, one thing at a time, and touchwood, everything went well for me and actually you end up having a load of games and actually realising that I have had just 9, 10 games and it’s forgotten.
“But he has not reached that stage. He’s at the very start. He’s at the beginning, so it’s one game and one training session. Every single time he steps out on a piece of grass to train or play, take it easy.”
James under pressure from Malo Gusto
Even if he does stay fit, James’ place in the team will no doubt be under pressure in the coming weeks and months.
Malo Gusto impressed greatly in his first season at the club, with Cole Palmer even voting him as his player of the season.
His ability to create opportunities from out wide is very similar to how James can do, and both would certainly lose their ability to do that regularly if they are to be inverting.
It is likely though that the job of doing that will fall to Marc Cucurella when he returns to the club off the back of his exploits at Euro 2024.
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