Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has confirmed that Reece James will be sidelined for several weeks following successful surgery, while insisting the injury will not affect the club’s January transfer plans.

According to a report by Football London on Friday, 16 October 2026, Alonso addressed the captain’s recovery, Chelsea’s leadership options and the team’s defensive concerns ahead of their Premier League meeting with Everton.

James suffered the injury during training after the international break, dealing another setback to his hopes of maintaining regular availability.

Although the exact return date remains uncertain, Alonso warned that the defender would be out for an extended period.

"We don't have the exact, it will be several weeks for sure, it's not going to be short, it's not going to be two, three weeks things, it's going to be longer," Alonso said.

Despite the setback, the Chelsea manager does not expect James’ absence to change the club’s recruitment strategy in January, expressing confidence that the captain will have returned before then.

"No, I don't think so because we expect for that time that he's back, some weeks before, so let's see, it's not exact the timeline with him so it doesn't affect," he added.

Alonso also backed James’ leadership qualities, insisting that the defender remains an important figure even when unavailable.

With the captain sidelined, Levi Colwill and Moises Caicedo are among the players expected to take greater responsibility within the squad.

"You can be captain without an armband, for me that's not a problem for sure," Alonso explained, emphasising that leadership extends beyond wearing the captain’s armband on matchday.

The Chelsea boss also discussed the team’s defensive performances after their 5-1 victory over Bournemouth.

While pleased with the side’s attacking output, he admitted that reducing the number of goals conceded remains an important objective.

"If we improve or we continue the level of scoring and we decrease the numbers of conceding, we'll be in a better way," he said.

However, Alonso rejected the suggestion that Chelsea must sacrifice their attacking approach to secure more clean sheets, maintaining that the priority is winning matches while improving the team’s overall balance.

"No, we need to. I think it will come, so we don't need it's not an obsession; the obsession is to win and to compete the best possible way, and the clean sheet will come, and I'm pretty sure of that."