Frank Lampard has added his voice to the argument that Reece James deserves to start for England at the World Cup this summer, using a talkSPORT appearance to make the case for Chelsea’s injured captain in terms that left no room for ambiguity about where the former Blues boss believes the 26-year-old stands in the global conversation about the right-back position.
“Without picking Thomas’ squad for him, I think Reece James is one of the best right-backs in the world without a doubt,” Lampard told talkSPORT, as reported by London Insider. “I want to see him fit and playing again because he’s a special player.”
The timing of those comments is not accidental. Lampard handed James his senior Chelsea debut, watched him develop into club captain and Champions League winner, and is now watching from outside as the player fights to prove his fitness ahead of a tournament that Tuchel has already made clear he wants James to be central to.
Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane provided a more concrete fitness update ahead of Monday’s home game against Nottingham Forest, confirming that James is back in first-team training and looking positive but that the club will not rush a player who has now suffered two significant hamstring setbacks within the same campaign.
McFarlane said: “Reece is back in training and Levi, both looking good. A little way to the game so we’ll see how they do but both are looking promising. We’re taking it day by day. Levi has had a long injury, Reece had a really good run and was then injured again so we don’t want to push too much.”
James has been sidelined since the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United on March 14, missing five consecutive matches across the Premier League and the FA Cup run that ended last weekend with Chelsea’s victory over Leeds at Wembley. His absence has coincided with a run of four consecutive league defeats without scoring that has left Chelsea sitting outside the top half of the table and in a managerial transition that has changed the atmosphere around the club entirely.
The off-pitch dimension of James’s influence at Stamford Bridge was illustrated by one of the most humanising moments of the current season, when the captain physically pushed interim manager McFarlane toward the travelling Chelsea support at the Etihad after an unexpected draw in January, a gesture that revealed the kind of emotional intelligence and leadership instinct that goes beyond anything that appears in a match report.
McFarlane acknowledged that James has remained an active presence in the squad’s planning despite his injury, saying “Reece has been brilliant from the day I stepped up in January, to be honest,” a description of a club captain using his enforced absence constructively rather than withdrawing from the group.
The FA Cup final against Manchester City on May 16 represents the most important target date for James’s return on Chelsea’s remaining calendar, with the club clearly managing his recovery with one eye on having their captain available for what would be the biggest match of Chelsea’s season and, from an England perspective, an ideal opportunity for Tuchel to watch his preferred right-back in a high-stakes Wembley environment before finalising his World Cup squad.
His record of injuries during his Chelsea career has been the persistent shadow over what everyone in football acknowledges is an exceptional talent. Missing over 100 matches across his Stamford Bridge years has made sustainable fitness the central question around James for most of his career, making the rehabilitation approach McFarlane has described, cautious and day-by-day, the correct one even if supporters and the England manager are impatient for the player to return.
At 26, this is the window in which James should be delivering the consistent peak-level performances that his ability has always promised, and the combination of form before the latest injury, Lampard’s public endorsement, and Tuchel’s known preference makes a World Cup starting berth realistic if the hamstring holds through the final weeks of the club season.
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