Reece James, the captain of Chelsea, will miss this weekend's Premier League encounter against Leicester City due to yet another injury. James played in more than sixty minutes of the English Premier League's loss versus Liverpool last month after missing the season's opening due to a hamstring injury.
Prior to last week's international break, he also came off as a substitute against Arsenal and started games against Manchester United and Newcastle United. However, after suffering yet another injury during training this week, the 24-year-old captain is once again on the medical table.
Enzo Maresca spoke to the media ahead of Chelsea’s game against Leicester City. He said, “It’s a hamstring issue, a muscle problem. He felt something small and we don’t want to take any risks for the weekend. It was two days ago. He has to try and avoid as much as he can but sometimes things happen even if you want to avoid that. Hopefully he can be available for the next one but he is not available for this one.”
Thomas Tuchel hires former Chelsea coach to his team
Hilario, the goalkeeping coach of Chelsea, has left and will join Thomas Tuchel's England team.
Hilario has played and coached at Stamford Bridge for 16 years, spanning two stints. Tuchel, who starts his job as England manager on January 1st, collaborated with the former goalkeeper while he was Chelsea's manager.
It is known that Chelsea was not satisfied with the job-sharing arrangement, even if Hilario was amenable to it. Following the UEFA Euro 2024, England's former goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson resigned with former head coach Gareth Southgate. Hilario made 39 games before departing in 2014 after joining the Premier League team from Portuguese team Nacional in 2006. After rejoining Chelsea in 2016 as Antonio Conte's assistant goalkeeping coach, the 49-year-old was elevated to goalkeeping instructor by Maurizio Sarri.
He continued to work under Mauricio Pochettino, Graham Potter, Tuchel, and the present head coach Enzo Maresca. In October, it was revealed that 51-year-old Tuchel would take Southgate's place on an 18-month deal. During the 2026 World Cup, the German will attempt to deliver the first major championship since 1966.