Chelsea 'increasingly open to Reece James sale'

Earlier this summer, the academy graduate was handed the club captaincy, taking over a leadership role vacated by Jorginho and Cesar Azpilicueta over the past 12 months.

Having got back to full fitness over pre-season, the hope had been that the England international would become a mainstay in Mauricio Pochettino's new-look team.

However, despite his late withdrawal during the first Premier League fixture of the season against Liverpool having being put down to tiredness, James suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury in training the following week.

The 23-year-old is yet to return to action, allowing Malo Gusto the opportunity to impress in his place, although the Frenchman may drop back down to the substitutes' bench when James is back in contention.

According to Sport, though, there is scope for James being sold for what is described as 'a good price' in the future.

Real Madrid, long-term suitors of James, are allegedly prepared to put forward a €40m (£34.35m) proposal for James at the end of the season.

While Chelsea are said to have no intention of giving the green light to a sale right now, it is suggested that their stance may soften at some stage.

Much will be dependent on whether James can prove his fitness over a longer period of time having seen his minutes reduced over the past 18 months.

Just 14 starts and two substitute outings in the top flight were made during 2022-23, while James featured from the opening whistle in just 22 of the 38 Premier League encounters during the previous campaign.

From the perspective of Real, they require a long-term replacement for Dani Carvajal, who is now 31 years of age and has less than two years left on his contract.

With Lucas Vazquez and Nacho - both older than Carvajal - acting as his understudy, Los Blancos must strengthen that position at some point in the future.

The report adds that Real would not be prepared to go as high as €65m (£55.82m), a valuation that has been suggested in the past.