Chelsea captain Reece James is expected to return to full training as early as “next week”, according to The Telegraph reporter Matt Law.

The 24-year-old has not featured at all this season after picking up another hamstring injury before the campaign began. However, speaking to the London is Blue podcast, Law provided some positive news:

“Reece is due back in full training, all being well, next week hopefully. I’m always a little bit wary on these because it might be that there’s a little thing that happens and they decide to delay it again but I know the hope is to get Reece back into full training at some point.”

“What we can be sure of is that they’re going to be damn careful with him, so just because he gets back into full training don’t necessarily expect him to come back as quick as another player.”

James won’t feature against Liverpool

As Law points out, the fact that the fullback will be in team training doesn’t necessarily mean he will be available for selection straight away.

It would be a surprise if James even makes the substitutes bench for the trip to Anfield on Sunday week. He has not played a minute of competitive football since last season so he will need to be eased back into things, especially because of his injury record.

When will the Chelsea captain return to action?

James is in the UEFA Conference League squad, unlike Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer, so there’s a good chance that he will be involved in some capacity when the Blues take on Panathinaikos.

Enzo Maresca’s side travel to Greece for the league phase fixture on Thursday 24th October. James could well get some minutes off the bench or even get his first start of the campaign.

Find out who is in Chelsea’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here