Chelsea look set to ramp up their interest in Inter star Denzel Dumfries after Reece James fell victim to another knee issue in his first match back from a long-term injury. The 23-year-old made his first start in just under 11 weeks against Bournemouth on Boxing Day but was subbed off early in the second half after going down clutching his knee.
A statement was released a few days after the game by Chelsea confirming that the defender would be ruled out for up to a month. It was against AC Milan in mid-October that James suffered knee ligament damage after a clash with Theo Hernandez. The injury resulted in the 23-year-old missing out on the World Cup and having to undertake recovery work while many of his teammates were representing their countries in Qatar.
The mid-season pause did allow James to recover, and ahead of the game, Graham Potter confirmed that James would need to "build up his minutes" after missing 10 weeks of action following knee surgery to repair the damage.
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This would have likely seen James replaced around the hour-mark, but instead he was forced to withdraw from the game earlier than expected, seeming to do the damage when stretching to poke a loose ball out for a throw-in. The Blues were able to hold on for victory against Bournemouth, but James' absence will once again be missed in a hectic January period where Chelsea play six games.
Another injury to James may force the hand of Todd Boehly to find a potential back-up option for the Englishman with club captain Cesar Azpilicueta not quite able to over the same dynamism as James at right-back.
After a stellar World Cup, Josip Juranovic had been linked with a move before those claims were rubbished by Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou. Meanwhile, Denzel Dumfries, who was also heavily linked when James first suffered an injury, looks set to be Chelsea's primary January target to replace James.
According to a report from Sport Italia, Chelsea are set to make a concrete attempt to sign Dumfries from Inter in January. Following his World Cup exploits, £53million is the asking price to even begin negotiations exploits but the report notes that it is unlikely Boehly will be put off by that fee.
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