Chelsea injury news: Thomas Tuchel provides Reece James update after England squad announcement

Chelsea captain Reece James appears likely to miss Friday's Premier League fixture against Brentford.

At his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Xabi Alonso was extremely coy over the fitness of several of his Blues squad.

However, despite his comments to the media, a report quickly emerged which suggested that Joao Pedro had been ruled out of the trip to the Gtech Community Stadium with a knee injury.

While Danny Welbeck can deputise for the Brazil international as he bids to achieve a career first, Chelsea's midfield issues are more complex.

As well as Moises Caicedo having played just 14 minutes this season and Jordan Henderson only recently returning to training after a broken wrist, James has missed at least one training session this week.

On Friday morning, the Chelsea star was left out of Thomas Tuchel's England squad for the upcoming four matches in the UEFA Nations League.

With the 26-year-old having been a regular in Alonso's midfield during the opening month of 2026-27, his omission came as a surprise.

Nevertheless, when mentioning a number of names who could not be present in his England squad due to injury, Tuchel included James.

Despite Alonso hinting that James had only been left out of training earlier this week as a precaution, the comments from Tuchel have painted a different picture.

Chelsea have already missed the presence of Caicedo this season, so the absence of James in the engine room would represent a major blow.

Alonso would essentially be left with Romeo Lavia, Henderson, Valentin Barco and Malo Gusto as his options for the two roles in his 3-4-2-1 formation.

With Lavia and Gusto having started the 4-3 win over Brighton & Hove Albion earlier in the season, that is the likely pairing for the game at Brentford.

Barco is an alternative to Gusto, while Henderson may be earmarked to replace Lavia, who has not played longer than 69 minutes in a Premier League this season, during the second half.

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