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.
