Reece James has just reminded everyone why he was appointed Chelsea’s club captain in the summer.
Reece James missed England duty during this international break to stay at Cobham and continue work on his fitness, which is fair enough when you consider he’s only recently returned from his latest injury problem. Speaking via talkSPORT (7:49am, 22 November), Gabby Agbonlahor suggested that England manager Gareth Southgate may hold a grudge against the 23-year-old Chelsea skipper for snubbing the latest international call-up.
James has been working with Mauricio Pochettino’s depleted squad, with several first-team stars away with their respective national teams. Therefore, it’s no surprise to see some fresh faces from the academy drafted in to make up the numbers.
Tyrique George, who’s just 17, is a Blues prospect now put into first-team training this week.
James uploaded a post on his Instagram story yesterday (Wednesday) that pictured him in training alongside George. He tagged the 17-year-old youngster in the message and offered some words of wisdom.
James wrote: “I was once the young kid to come over and train with the first team. Keep working hard champ. Anything is possible.”
George is going to take loads forwards in his development by mixing it with senior stars in training.
The London-born winger is making appearances across Chelsea’s Under-21s and Under-18s side this season, enjoying quite a lot of success in the latter.
Hopefully, he can be the latest in a long line of academy successes from Cobham.
Reece James a role model
James points out that he’s already walked the same path that Chelsea’s youngsters are dreaming of.
You could argue that the right-back is the finest academy success since John Terry. He’ll hope to lead like him, too.
James is new to this position with Chelsea’s armband, but these are the kind of positive messages you want to see from him.
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