Chelsea’s recruitment in recent times has faced heavy scrutiny. Despite having one of the most expensively assembled squads in the world, they are nowhere near competing for the biggest prizes in football.
That is largely because the BlueCo think tank invested heavily in signing youngsters, completely overlooking the need for experience and proven quality. It almost felt like they were looking to reinvent football. Unfortunately, that has not proven successful.
Chelsea have signed more than 50 players since BlueCo’s takeover. But how many of them can be categorised as world-class? Only a handful.
Reece James is someone who falls under that category on his day. Of course, quality has never been the problem with the Chelsea captain. Instead, it has been his injury record. The good news is that the Blues have managed to keep him relatively fit for quite some time now. That has come with him being left out of the starting XI on plenty of occasions to manage his load. While that might be frustrating at times, it has worked.
Chelsea want to agree new contract with Reece James
At the end of the season, James will have two years left on his contract with Chelsea. That is quite a bit shorter than some of his teammates. And the Blues might be about to put that right.
According to TEAMtalk,Chelsea are determined to keep James at Stamford Bridge for the entirety of his career. Both the club and the player share a mutual desire to commit to a new long-term contract.
The report further goes on to state that talks are progressing positively. A fresh deal for the club captain is viewed internally as a matter of “when, not if”.
Keeping James at Chelsea would be the right decision
A lot has changed within a short time at Chelsea since the BlueCo takeover. Almost the entire squad has changed. Plenty of influential off-the-field figures have departed as well. Oftentimes, many fans have complained about their connection with the club eroding as a result of this.
As a result, keeping someone like James becomes even more important. Not only because of his quality, but also because of what he means to the supporters.
James came through the ranks at Cobham to become club captain. Handing him a new contract feels like a no-brainer. In the past, there have been some links with other clubs. But those have gone away over time.
