Chelsea eye Atletico Madrid’s Nahuel Molina as a replacement for Reece James
According to journalist Simon Phillips, via Chelsea Dodgers (h/t Football.London), Chelsea are eyeing an opportunity to sign World Cup-winning right-back Nahuel Molina as a replacement/backup for Reece James.
After weeks out due to a knee injury that was picked up in October and forced him to miss the World Cup, James suffered another injury in only his first game back against Bournemouth on December 27. Reports say he is out for another month.
In the last year or so, the England international has had quite a few serious injuries. If we look at the numbers, the fullback will have missed 36 games in the space of 13 months since December 2021 till the time he comes back from the latest setback (Transfermarkt).
There is a reason why, as per Football.London, the Chelsea hierarchy was concerned at the number of injuries James has picked up in the last 12 months and is looking to sign a backup right-back. Denzel Dumfries of Inter Milan has also been eyed up as a potential signing.
Molina of Atletico Madrid is another. The World Cup winner had a good tournament for his country and must be high on confidence as of now.
The 24-year-old is a former Udinese and Rosario Central player who can play on either side as a full-back or wing-back. He is good going forward and is more than decent defensively.
If Chelsea are looking to sign him in January, they might have a problem as the player joined Atleti in the preceding summer window itself. Will the Spanish giants allow the fullback to go after just six months of service? Not sure about that, unless Diego Simeone is not convinced by the player or if Los Colchoneros want to cash in on his newly-received hype.
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Either way, be it Molina or anyone else, we need a new right-back who can fill in as a right-back in James’ place and then become his backup or competition in the long run. Even if the Englishman wasn’t injured, this is a signing we should have been looking to make.