Reece James pulls out England U21 squad due to injury — report

Details are still a bit vague, but Reece James has pulled out of the England U21 squad ahead of their games on Friday and Tuesday. (Former Chelsea prospect Tariq Lamptey has been called up in his stead.)

The Chelsea official website does not provide any specific reason for this development. Other reports point the finger at a “non-serious” injury, though the nature of which is again not revealed.

Obviously, the hope is that this is just a precaution. He had come through unscathed in Chelsea’s friendly over the weekend.

James picked up an ankle ligament injury last summer on international duty, which required surgery and kept him out for the first two months of the season. Avoiding any chance of that happening again is always a good thing. We need the “RJ x HZ” link-up to stay healthy (no update on Hakim Ziyech’s injury, that I’ve seen, by the way).

In related news, both Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount are apparently out of quarantine and back with England, and so is Jorginho down in Italy.