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Chelsea identify World Cup star Josip Juranovic as potential Reece James back-up: Sky Sports (reliability: 4 stars)

Sky Sports

 are looking at potential options at right-back after 

 has sustained yet another injury, Sky Sports reports.

After internal talks, one of the potential candidates is 

 in Qatar, playing in all games except the third-place play-off against 

It's claimed, however, that Chelsea have scouted Juranovic for a while which means they would've considered his performances for Celtic too.

 have also been linked with the player, while Celtic have already signed another player in that position.

Another player who Chelsea are reportedly keen on is 

 who has been linked with the Blues since the summer.

5 players who could realistically replace Reece James if knee injury serious

 suffered a knee injury against Bournemouth. We still don't know how much he will miss but in case his injury is serious, here is a list of potential replacements. 

. The veteran Spaniard feels comfortable at both right wing-back and right-back positions. He might have lost a bit of pace but his crossing is as good as ever, while his leadership and experience are always helpful.

. The homegrown centre-back is capable of playing on the right. Chelsea will inevitably lose in the attacking department if they use Trev on the right but his defensive solidity would allow a right-forward (Ziyech, Mount, Sterling or whoever Potter plays there) to focus on going forward without worrying too much about defence.

. Rubes has already played at the right wing-back and to a devastating effect. His ability to carry the ball forward would be very helpful on the wings. The biggest problem with RLC is his inconsistency: he is either putting in a world-class performance or drops an absolute stinker. There's no in-between with this lad.

. Reportedly a long-term Chelsea target, the Dutchman would be very helpful if the Blues manage to get him in January. A brilliant crosser and runner, he could add physicality and directness to Chelsea's attacks. The price tag reportedly stands at around €35m.

Lewis Hall. The young midfielder is developing into a baby Azpilicueta, having played in midfield, on the left and at centre-back. Perhaps slotting him on the right-hand side could work, too.

11 injuries in 4.5 years: Reece James injury history

 has picked up a yet another knee injury in 

. The wing-back missed the World Cup through the same issue and 

 confirmed that the 23-year-old injured the same knee again.

When fit, Reecey is arguably Chelsea's best player — but his constant injuries mean the Blues can't really rely on him.

Over the course of his professional career that kicked off on August 4, 2018 when he made his first-team debut with Wigan, the Englishman has picked up 11 injuries.

Transfermarkt's table does not reflect the injury James suffered on Tuesday but it counts last-season's hamstring injury as two (they named some of the time he spent recovering a 'fitness' issue).

Let's do some math. Since August 4, 2018, he has spent 323 days on the sidelines, or roughly a fifth of all time passed between his first-team debut and today (1607 days).

Overall, James has missed 60 games. He's featured in 188 games throughout his career (135 for Chelsea, 46 for 

). Considering he's been a Chelsea first-team player since returning from the Latics loan, he is unavailable for about a quarter of the time.

Curiously, Reece had an injury-free season on loan with Wigan. So all these 60 matches he's missed could have been added to his 135 games played in the Blues' shirt had he stayed fit. Since returning to Chelsea in 2019, James has been unavailable for a third of all Chelsea's matches.

This does not look good for either Reece or Chelsea.

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Trevor won't fit the bill because he won't be able to move the ball forward as James does

tochukwu favour

Trevor can never fill James role never James is way ahead of him

Slim Tall

The best thing is to sign a backup…. Trevoh is not attack minded as Reece James the only one player that plays something similar is dumfries Chelsea should go all out for him

someone who are always insulting players look at u are saying here.

Adjei Isaac Morris

Please can we just sign and stop being linked to every player, and let’s go for quality please, I really don’t know if this guy is worth it, but I hope so!

OnlyHalftooth

This man at Celtic has been targeted before the World Cup

Michael Fox

badiashille instead of gvardiol mac allister instead of Enzo 2nd best is not what we need Enzo has agreed to come to Chelsea don't need the Brighton player and dumfries is far better than juranovic why dosent Chelsea stick to there first choice these constant names is driving me insane

Player		G
Erling Haaland	Man City	25
Cole Palmer	Chelsea	21
Alexander Isak	Newcastle	20
Ollie Watkins	Aston Villa	19
Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	18

Chelsea identify World Cup star Josip Juranovic as potential Reece James back-up: Sky Sports (reliability: 4 stars)

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