Chelsea have begun to face backlash for the treatment of Reece James, with the defender now set to be out for longer than first thought. He suffered an injury in the Blues' victory over AC Milan and the early indications were that the knock wasn't serious.
However, the knock is worse than first thought and the 22-year-old now faces a race to be fit for the World Cup in Qatar, football.london understand. James went down clutching his knee in the second half of Wednesday night's 2-0 victory at San Siro following a collision with Theo Hernandez.
He required treatment on the pitch and tried to soldier on before he was later replaced by Cesar Azpilicueta. While the Chelsea squad travelled back on Wednesday, James remained in Milan rather than make an immediate return to Cobham for tests and treatment.
It's understood that James underwent further scans on Thursday, which revealed the extent of his injury is worse than initially hoped. And, with the Cobham graduate likely to miss the World Cup in November, the Football Association are said to be unhappy with how Chelsea dealt with the player, who is now set to be out for eight weeks.
According to the MailOnline, the FA are unhappy with the west London side's treatment of the defender. The report states that the FA have enquired as to the club allowed James to stay in Milan given the great risk at hand.
The Chelsea star was set to play key role in Gareth Southgate's squad this winter after having impressed in the early stages of the season. James has featured 11 times for the Blues across all competitions this season, directly contributing towards four goals from right-back.
In a statement released on Saturday evening, Chelsea confirmed the course of action: "Following the knee injury sustained in our away match against AC Milan, Reece has received treatment from the Chelsea medical department and visited a specialist this weekend.
"After consultation between all parties, Reece will now undergo a rehabilitation programme and is expected to be out for eight weeks."
With James unwilling to rule himself out of a place in England's World Cup squad, he sent out a message on Twitter. The defender posted: "The race against time is on… But we won’t give up."
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