The father of Reece James reveals that he talked to him about Achraf Hakimi’s links to Chelsea
Speaking to The Athletic, Nigel James revealed that his son, Reece James, talked to him about the transfer links between Chelsea and Achraf Hakimi in the summer.
The young star has been in sensational form this season, scoring five goals assists apiece in 16 appearances. James was pivotal towards the end of last season but has taken his performances to a whole new level this time around.
However, that might not have been the case had the Blues signed Achraf Hakimi in the summer. The Moroccan had done well under Antonio Conte at Inter Milan last season, and Thomas Tuchel was interested in the player. However, he eventually joined Paris Saint-Germain instead.
Reece’s father, Nigel James, recently revealed that his son talked to him about these links. Thankfully it appears to have motivated him to do better than let it affect his gameplay.
“Reece has spoken a couple of times about the possibility of someone else coming in. He looked at it and said, ‘What are they looking to sign them for?’. Until this day, I tell him these people can one day say you’re wonderful, and tomorrow they sign someone in your position.
“It’s a motivation for him. I tell him…Now every Premier League manager knows what he’s like, same too for coaches across Europe because he is doing it in the Champions League, plus for England. All the top clubs know who Reece James is.”
All’s well that ends well?
Tuchel knew the job at hand once he lifted the Champions League in May. We had to compete for the Premier League title, and he was going to do everything he could to do so. James had been good under him, but he had also shown his quality as a right-sided centre-back towards the end of the season.
The Englishman was not creating chances as freely as he is this season. Thus, Tuchel must have thought about bringing in an attack-minded full-back like Hakimi. Fortunately, that move failed, and the Cobham academy graduate is now flourishing under the German manager.
However, the move for the Moroccan right-back was similar to the club’s approach to sign Romelu Lukaku. We lacked a goal-scoring centre-forward, and Timo Werner, Olivier Giroud, Tammy Abraham, or Kai Havertz had not stepped up to the plate. The Belgian is yet to completely justify his signing but he does give us a different dimension going forward.
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Plotting out transfer targets is part and parcel of the game. James could have been motivated by his boyhood club’s interest in the PSG star, courtesy of which we are seeing a far more determined player this campaign. The English international could now be the driving force to beating Manchester City and Liverpool to the league title this season.