Nigel James, the father of Chelsea defender Reece James has revealed that his son wants to be the next club captain after Ceaser Azpilicueta left.
Chelsea’s captain position have become vacant in recent months after the transfers of Azpilicueta and Matteo Kovacic, who served as vice-captain sometimes.
Veteran defender Thiago Silva is the club’s current leader on the field, but new manager Mauricio Pochettino is expected to name his leadership team.
And ahead of the exercise, Nigel has revealed that Reece James wants to follow in the footsteps of his fellow right back and lead Chelsea permanently.
Discussing his son’s future and aims at The Beautiful Game Podcast, Nigel said:
“Reece is a top player, so I’m sure most clubs would want to sign him, but right now, I don’t see anything changing.
“He is a Chelsea player, and until Chelsea wants to sell him, it’s like anything. If a club do not want to work with you anymore and for some reason, they want to get rid of you, then you go.
“If they want you … he’s been there since six years of age, his ambition is to wear the armband and captain the side, and it broke his heart the season we have had just gone.
“Coming off the pitch, losing games, it really hurt him. I’m sure it hurt a lot of players. I can’t speak for the other players. All I can speak for is knowing how painful it was for my son to feel his club ….”
Pochettino was officially unveiled as Chelsea’s head coach last week, and among the issues he has to address, the captaincy is one.
He said: “First of all, we need to build the squad, and then I need to look at all the players before making a decision. I need to feel the players, feel the commitment, the character, the personality.
“One thing is we are working with them for positive and not so positive. First of all, we need to close the club and the squad, and then we have many players with experience, and we will decide.”
