Reece James stretchered off with suspected ankle injury

As if the Achilles injuries to talented youngsters Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi weren’t enough, Reece James has joined his fellow Academy graduates on the injury list after suffering a serious-looking injury in England’s U20 match against Chile at the final game of the Toulon Tournament.

Just past the half-hour mark, Reece James appeared to go in for a tackle but instead jarred his leg against the ground. Such was the impact that James immediately went down in pain and had to receive oxygen before being stretchered off from the field. He will be further assessed by the England and Chelsea medical departments before we can expect a full diagnosis, but this certainly did not look good.

Reece is supposed to be joining the senior squad, along with several other loanees like Mason Mount and Kurt Zouma, later this summer for the upcoming Premier League pre-season — in about a month, month and a half — so hopefully this injury won’t affect that.

With Rudiger, Kante, Hudson-Odoi, Loftus-Cheek and now Reece James out with injuries, Hazard gone, Sarri soon, too, and even a transfer ban in place ... things are starting to look a bit gloomy already at Stamford Bridge...