Chelsea defender Reece James could be set for a spell on the sidelines following an injury picked up in the Champions League against AC Milan. football.london understands the knee injury sustained by the wing-back is worse than initially feared and the England international now faces a race to be fit for the World Cup in Qatar.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Graham Potter revealed James was due to see a specialist in the coming days. "He's due to see a specialist at the weekend so until we get that information there's not too much I can add unfortunately," the Blues boss said. "The rest would just be speculation from my perspective so we'll wait and see."
James has enjoyed a fine start to the 2022/23 season and already has two goals and two assists to his name in all competitions, sharing those between the Premier League and the Champions League. He has played seven Premier League games this year, although only six were 90 minutes with the Englishman forced off after 18 minutes against Wolves with a knock.
READ MORE: Graham Potter outlines next step following Reece James injury as Chelsea suffer brutal double blow
With James set for a spell on the sidelines, Fantasy Premier League managers will be eager to know who they should transfer in to replace the defender. James has amassed 26 points in only seven games so far this season, and will be a big miss for those who have selected him.
But who should you replace him with? football.london takes a look at the potentials...
First of all, James is worth £6.1million in the game, so unless you have money in the bank, we need replacements who are at that value or less. And then we ned to look at prospective opponents too.
Kieran Trippier is the second-best performing defender in the game and is available for £5.6million. Newcastle face Manchester United away, Everton at home and Tottenham away in their next three matches. Tough tasks, but the Geordies are playing well and Trippier takes a mean free-kick.
Lewis Dunk is a bargain £4.6million and has games against Brentford and Nottingham Forest next up for Brighton. They do face Manchester City after that but if you want someone in for two games - and he's scored twice against Forest in his career - he could be a good choice.
A rogue choice could be Matt Doherty from Tottenham. He came in with Emerson Royal suspended against Brighton and performed well, earning clean sheet points. With Royal suspended for two more Premier League games, Doherty should start - against Everton and Manchester United. And he's only £4.6million.
Then there's Ruben Dias. Manchester City tend to be strong at the back and Dias has been known to pop up with goals from time to time. He's available for £5.9million, although City do face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
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