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Jake Stokes

Reece James brought off for Ruben Loftus-Cheek vs AC Milan amid suspected knee injury

Reece James was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek with half an hour to play in Chelsea's Champions League group stage clash with AC Milan. The defender fell to the ground clutching his knee following a collision with Theo Hernandez a few moments earlier.

He tried to soldier on and fight through the visible pain of said knock. But after Rafael Leao waltzed past him to curve open the Blues' backline, he had ran his race.

This comes as a major blow for James, who has his eyes set on a place in Gareth Southagte's starting XI ahead of the Qatar World Cup. As it stands, the Three Lions are set to be without Kyle Walker, who has recently undergone surgery, while Trent Alexander-Arnold picked up a knock to his ankle in Liverpool's 3-2 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.

READ MORE: Todd Boehly told transfer fee Chelsea should pay for Rafael Leao amid subtle Graham Potter hint

The severity of James' suspected knee injury is currently unknown. The knock follows Wesley Fofana's injury which was picked up in the reverse fixture with AC Milan.

The 21-year-old centre-back hobbled off injured in the first half of the Blues' clash with the Italian giants last week. Fofana, who opened the scoring for Potter's side at Stamford Bridge, was brought off for Trevoh Chalobah.

Ironically, Fofana was caught in an altercation with transfer target Rafael Leao. The Portugal international was chasing down the Frenchman before he fell to the floor, clutching his knee.

Just as James did, he soldiered on for a few moments before eventually falling to the ground, signalling to be brought off. Fofana's exit was met with applause from the home support following his effort earlier in the tie, which put Chelsea ahead.

According to French news outlet L'Equipe, Fofana suffered a sprained knee and is set to miss up to four weeks of action. Matt Law has since confirmed that the Frenchman will be fit again before the 2022 World Cup in November.

So, hopefully, James also escapes a somewhat serious injury and is back to full health soon, with both Chelsea and England in desperate need of the right-back's services.

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