Earlier in the week, Chelsea confirmed that Reece James will be sidelined for up to a month after suffering a reoccurrence of his knee injury against Bournemouth.
A dejected James limped off early into the second-half of the 2-0 win over the Cherries as Blues supporters saw something they've almost become used to at this point. It was the 23-year-old's first game back from a knee injury that saw him ruled out of England's World Cup campaign.
Since then, Chelsea announced that James will miss another month of action as he recovers from his latest setback. It leaves Graham Potter with very few options on the right side of defence.
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Cesar Azpilicueta came on for the injured James against Bournemouth and the club captain did a stellar job. The 33-year-old has been a fantastic servant to Chelsea and still has the ability to compete at the top level but there's one big problem – he's not James. It's not his fault. We're talking about one of the best right-backs in world football.
That in itself could cause Chelsea a problem when trying to purchase a back-up in January. It will be difficult to find someone of the right profile who fits what Potter wants to do that is willing to come and essentially be a back-up option to James when he is fit.
If you look at the likes of Manchester City, they've been able to do it over the years. Before Joao Cancelo moved to left-back, it was basically a rotation job between himself and Kyle Walker. Liverpool have been able to do it in other positions, see the likes of Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz over the past 12 months.
So that will be Potter and Chelsea's job when buying a right-back in January. There is interest in a few targets in the position including Josip Juranovic, Sergino Dest and Denzel Dumfries.
Juranovic of Celtic had a fantastic World Cup playing for Croatia which will have only grown his reputation. The 27-year-old joined Celtic in 2021 for just £2.6million and has been fantastic since moving to Scotland.
football.london understands Juranovic is a potential option for Chelsea when the January transfer window officially opens. However, the likes of Dest and Dumfries have been of interest in previous windows and they have continued to be watched by club scouts.
Dest is currently on loan at AC Milan from Barcelona which makes a deal more complicated but Chelsea do have a long-term interest in the American defender. Meanwhile, Dumfries just had a fantastic World Cup for the Netherlands – which could tempt Chelsea. It's doubtful the Dutchman would want to come as a deputy right-back to James, however.
Someone also to keep an eye on is Tino Livramento. football.london has been told Chelsea have a buy-back clause on the former Blues defender which becomes active in the summer transfer window. Livramento has been sidelined since April with an anterior cruciate ligament injury but if he was to come back and impress for Southampton in the second half of the season, then it may tempt Chelsea when the summer rolls around.
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