Former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot believes that Reece James has everything to beat the competition from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Wan-Bissaka and become the best right-back in England.
"When you talk about Alexander-Arnold I’m excited about him and the way he plays," the 43-year-old told 888Sport. "He switches the play really comfortably. Wan-Bissaka is more defensive. But Reece James has the ability, he has the strength. He has the speed to keep up with people, and he knows how to work it.
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"There are still a couple of things he needs to add to his game but if he can become a regular with Chelsea he can compete with those two guys and why wouldn’t he want to do that? That’s why we play football – to compete with the best."
James has quite a long way to go to replicate Alexander-Arnold success; however, the talent is certainly there.
James has had a great first season at Stamford Bridge so far. The youngster has made 26 appearances across all competitions, scored 2 goals and provided 3 assists. The defender has been much lauded for his insane crossing ability in the first place.
James' heroics is hardly surprising. The 20-year-old was arguably the best performer at Wigan in the 2018/19 campaign. The Englishman played 45 of possible 46 games within the Championship, started in all of them and played the whole 90 minutes in 44.
Reece is also known for his versatility. For the Latics, the Blues' Academy kid regularly featured both as a right-back and as a holding midfielder and even played a game at centre-back.
