Reece James is prepared to continue his midfield education under Enzo Maresca at Chelsea with the head coach having big plans for the captain in the middle of the pitch.
The 25-year-old shone for the Blues in their 2-1 victory away in Copenhagen on Thursday evening, scoring the visitors' opening goal on the night and producing a brilliant second-half display to inspire his teammates. James has predominantly been used as a right-back during his Chelsea career, with some unbelievable moments down the flank. Some of James' best football with the Blues have been overlapping down the right-hand side but Maresca believes his captain has all of the attributes to become a world-class central midfielder.
So much so that the Italian called James while he was on holiday last summer, before the two had officially met, to discuss the skipper becoming a central midfielder. Maresca sent a clip of James scoring a fine goal during his loan spell at Wigan Athletic in the 2018/19 season when the Cobham graduate was being used in a central position.
Reece James during his loan spell at Wigan Athletic in 2019
Reece James shone in midfield for Wigan Athletic during the 2018/19 season (Image: Nathan Stirk)
James, though, is unsure of the position he will end up playing the most in his career but he is prepared to continue in this new-look role and look to educate himself more about how he can improve there. "As I said, I played a different position today. I can't do that when I play midfield [overlap]," James told reporters at the Parken Stadium on Thursday night. "The way the manager plays is different. Rewind three years ago, we had a different manager, a different system."
He added: "I'm not the decider of the position I play. As I said before, it's up to the manager, where he wants to set people up and the rest is down with us. It's a role that I'm fairly used to and with time playing there, I will improve."
James has managed to stay fit for almost two months now, where he has been in and out of the team with Maresca using him sporadically to protect his fitness. The Blues captain will be hoping he can continue to keep this level of fitness for the foreseeable future as he looks to break back into the England squad for next year's World Cup.
That will be Thomas Tuchel's decision, the man that led Chelsea and James to Champions League glory in 2021 with that memorable night in Porto. James has revealed he has been in contact with Tuchel since he was appointed as Gareth Southgate's successor as the Chelsea star looks to continue the form he has shown since he returned from injury in January.
"Yes, I spoke to him since he's got a job," James explained. "We have good memories together."