Reece James is one of several England internationals currently at Chelsea, and it looks like the club could be interested in adding another one to their squad: Trent Alexander-Arnold.
James, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Jordan Henderson, Levi Colwill and Danny Welbeck have all played for the Three Lions. So has Alexander-Arnold, who is thought to be on Chelsea’s radar right now.
According to TEAMtalk, Chelsea are monitoring Alexander-Arnold’s situation at Real Madrid, with the defender not an automatic starter under Jose Mourinho. Like Alexander-Arnold, James has not played every game this season, but that is because of injury.
James has been sidelined once again after undergoing knee surgery. He is not really playing at right-back these days, but comparing him to his England teammate never gets old.
With talk that Chelsea are now interested in Alexander-Arnold, The Chelsea Chronicle has taken a look at his and James’ best seasons.
WhoScored has the 2021/22 season down as the best campaign for both players. That year, they gave James a rating of 7.48 and Alexander-Arnold a rating of 7.51. Is it a surprise to see the pair given such high scores? No.
Before James’ injury, they were easily the two best attacking full-backs in England. James was actually playing as a wing-back under Thomas Tuchel, but with how offensive Alexander-Arnold was, he took up similar positions to James.
Why can we say they were the two best attacking full-backs in the Premier League? Well, you only have to look at the number of goal contributions they recorded.
In 26 appearances, James scored five goals and provided nine assists. As for Alexander-Arnold, he scored two goals and set up another 12 in 32 outings. Exactly the same number of goal contributions, although the latter played more games and minutes than the former.
Despite being full-backs or a wing-back in James’ case, they created so many chances for Chelsea and Liverpool respectively. According to WhoScored, James made 1.8 key passes per game, while Alexander-Arnold made 2.8. Alexander-Arnold’s average is what you would expect from a top No.10 — it is ridiculous.
Even 1.8 is not bad considering James’ position, but it is still one whole key pass fewer than what Alexander-Arnold was averaging. When it came to dribbles, James got the better of the former Liverpool man.
What about defending? Interestingly, they averaged the same number of tackles per game, while Alexander-Arnold made more interceptions.
Alexander-Arnold’s defending often comes under scrutiny, but for the 2021/22 season, the numbers are actually on his side. Of course, defensive stats do not tell you anywhere near as much as offensive stats. Those who are advocates of the “eye test” will tell you that Alexander-Arnold cannot defend one-v-one and it is not even a competition between him and James.
They are quite similar full-backs, which the above shows. Because of that, Chelsea do not need Alexander-Arnold.
Even if James’ future is in midfield or central defence, Xabi Alonso still has Pedro Neto, Marco Palestra and Malo Gusto for the right wing-back position. There is no need to rush and sign Alexander-Arnold next year.