Three big questions: Chelsea’s Reece James and being heir apparent

It is only a matter of when, not if Reece James inherits the Chelsea starting crown. What questions need to be asked of the young fullback?

It is hard to believe that Reece James is approaching only his third season as a professional footballer. He excelled on loan at Wigan and much was expected of him upon his return, even considering the step up in competition. He mostly met those expectations as he looks like the answer to right back for years to come. What questions need to be asked of him before the new season?

1. When will he take the throne from Cesar Azpilicueta?

It is rare for any club to have such a clearly defined pathway into the starting XI. Cesar Azpilicueta has been an iron man for Chelsea but those miles on the body tend to wear hard. Even being the captain and consistent as the sunrise, there has been a sense for at least two seasons that a good deputy was needed to prepare to take the mantle from the Spaniard.

Chelsea could find no better deputy than James. The young English fullback has nearly seamlessly slotted into the Blues squad with many even thinking he is a starter over Azpilicueta already. While that is not quite true yet, it could very well be by the end of the season. Though in this case, beating out Azpilicueta to the starting XI may be more of a 51-49 split than truly knocking him off the throne.

The main thing holding James back is quite simply himself. James is very good. He knows he is very good. At times that translates to a sort of overconfidence on the pitch where he thinks he has something covered but he doesn’t. That is one of those things that is simply ironed out with experience of knowing what tricks work when and where. James has the tool box and already knows how to use most of the tools, he just needs to get better at finding the right moments to push on to that next level.