Chelsea: £105m duo ‘ready made’ to star under Pochettino at Stamford Bridge | OneFootball

Chelsea full-back pairing of Reece James and Ben Chilwell are ‘ready-made’ for their new incoming manager Mauricio Pochettino, journalist Dean Jones exclusively told GIVEMESPORT.

Despite spending a big chunk of the concluded campaign out of action, James and Chilwell have been brilliant servants during their stints at Chelsea.

The club have now confirmed the permanent appointment of former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino in the hopes to revive the star-studded Stamford Bridge outfit back to being title contenders.

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His arrival will give players a new lease of life in an attempt to see them playing back to their best and Pochettino’s investment in dynamic fullbacks is good news for both £200,000-a-week man Chilwell and £250,000-a-week star James.

The pair, who have a joint value of £105m, have switched between playing as traditional full-backs to having to attend to enhanced attacking duties in a back five.

Both have plenty of experience in both roles, which the Argentine coach will look to utilise upon his high-profile arrival in west London.

Despite the reported Barcelona rumours, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has claimed James is ‘untouchable’ and that the links are wide of the mark, meaning the Cobham graduate is likely to stay.

The Athletic reported that, back in March, Manchester City may turn their attention to Chilwell as a direct Joao Cancelo replacement in the summer.

Keeping hold of their brilliant defensive duo will be paramount to how they fare in their attempt to bounce back to being a dominant force in England’s top-flight, and Pochettino will be well aware of that.

What did Dean Jones say about Ben Chilwell and Reece James?

Jones praised James and Chilwell as ‘ready-made’ as Pochettino-type fullbacks and that the rumours of Chelsea replacing their whole defensive structure makes little sense.

Speaking exclusively to GIVEMESPORT, Jones said: “On the right side of defence, yeah they’ve got a problem beyond Reece James to fix but one thing that Pochettino always wants is dynamic wingbacks or dynamic full-backs rather and in Reece James and Chilwell, they’re ready-made."

Can Reece James and Ben Chilwell thrive under Mauricio Pochettino?

The English duo have endured relatively stellar careers in west London but have spent much of Chelsea’s substandard 2022/23 season side-lined through their respective injuries.

According to Transfermarkt, Chilwell spent 13 games out of the squad with hamstring issues, while his right-sided partner spent 50% of the season out of action through injury.

And many may have forgotten, due to their prolonged absence from proceedings, how well the two played in Chelsea’s 2020/21 Champions League winning side, a campaign in which they both chopped and changed their positions.

Despite finishing 12th in the Premier League this season, it was Chelsea’s shortcomings in an attacking sense which placed them so low, with their defensive record better than four teams placed above them.