Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca wants Reece James to prove his fitness before deciding on the best way to deploy the right-back in his system.
The club captain is yet to play a single minute of competitive action this season after suffering a relapse on a troublesome hamstring injury which he underwent surgery for last December that ultimately ruled him out for the majority of the 2023/34 campaign.
In James' absence, a lot has changed in west London. Most notably the head coach and with that a new style of play has been introduced with the Italian tactician preferring to utilise a full-back moving inside to overload the centre and dominate possession.
This has been evident with Malo Gusto, in particular, inverting from his right-back position into the central midfield spaces which in turn sees the back line adjust to form a trio when Chelsea are in possession.
Now that James is back and available for selection, once fully fit he will be out to reclaim his spot in what promises to be an intriguing battle with the aforementioned Frenchman who has deputised extremely well in the England international's long absence.
Having said that, James will have to adapt to a new role as under previous managers such as Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino, he's been predominately used as an attack-minded full-back often instructed to offer with down the right-hand side as opposed to drifting into midfield.
The question as to if the 24-year-old will be able to fit in the same role was posed to Maresca during a news conference ahead of Chelsea's game against Liverpool and the Italian simply wanted to focus on ensuring the defender returns to full fitness before discussing tactical plans.
"First of all, he has to be fit and then slowly we will see,” Maresca said. “The most important thing for Reece is he is finally fit and then we will see how we will use him. We have many players that are versatile and can play in different positions."
Ultimately, James has all the tools to perform as an inverted right-back to a high standard. After all, despite only operating at right-back throughout his career at Stamford Bridge, he has experience as a central midfielder from his loan spell with Wigan Athletic.
