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Reece James was appointed as the Chelsea captain for the new season. The news was confirmed by the club on their website.
His teammate Enzo Fernandez has reacted to the development on social media, tweeting:
"Yeees tractor! Come on friend. You deserve it"
Tammy Abraham, a former Blue, who like James came through the academy, was the first to congratulate the right-back, tweeting:
"Reece James deserved brother"
James, who has been at the club for 17 years, made his first-team debut under Frank Lampard in the 2019-20 season. Since then, he has gone on to make 147 appearances for the club, registering 11 goals and 20 assists. He takes over the armband from Cesar Azpilcueta, who was released by the club this summer.
As for Enzo Fernandez, he joined Chelsea earlier this year - in the January transfer window for a club record fee of £107 million (as per CNN). He quickly established himself as a first-team regular, racking up 22 appearances in less than half a season. He started every game for the Blues after joining them last season.
Chelsea need to revamp midfield ahead of new season
The Blues have had a massive clearout at the club this summer. They have sold the likes of Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Edouard Mendy and also parted ways with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Cesar Azpilicueta and N'Golo Kante.
They have brought in Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Robert Sanchez, Angelo, Axel Disasi and Lesley Ugochukwu to the first team. Angelo and Ugochukwu are likely to go out on loan in this transfer window, as per reports.
That means the Blues are short on numbers in midfield. Besides Fernandez, they do not have a holding midfielder, and new boss Mauricio Pochettino's sytem requires two pivots (4-2-3-1 formation).
Chelsea are reportedly in talks with Brighton & Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo and Southampton's Romeo Lavia, but nothing has been finalised yet. They play Liverpool on Sunday (August 13) in their league opener.
