Reece James admitted that he hated playing in his present right-back position during his early days in the academy at Chelsea.
Reece James opened up about his early days with Chelsea, saying he never wanted to play as a right-back in the first place. However, for him, the club turned out to be a vantage point in his professional career.
In the past few campaigns, James has flourished to become one of the best defending talents in the Premier League. As a bonus, the England international has the Champions League glory alongside Euro 2020 silver medal under his name.
James also revealed that he used to feature as a midfielder for some amount of time during his academy days at Chelsea. But he found himself slowly moving to his present right-winger position due to the addition of midfielders in the squad.
James told the club’s official website: “When I first arrived at Chelsea, I was a striker. But then moved to midfield for a couple of seasons.”
“Then, when I was about 15, I found myself playing right-back because there were better players in midfield. I hated it for maybe two or three years and never wanted to play there!”
“But one day it just clicked and I started loving it. I think the penny just dropped that I wouldn’t be playing midfield anymore and this was my new position.”
“[Then] I signed my first professional contract when I was 17. I wanted to be a professional ever since I was a young boy here. I was over the moon.”
In a comfortable victory over Arsenal last weekend, James marked himself on the scoresheet. As a matter of fact, the 21-year-old scored during his debut back in September 2019. “It was a dream come true to make my debut at Stamford Bridge and to score as well,” he added.
“Every time I went to Stamford Bridge as a kid I always wondered what it was like to walk out with the crowd cheering. And that was the day I did it.”
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