Manchester City have reportedly entered the race to sign Chelsea right-back Reece James.
The 21-year-old defender has impressed since making his first-team debut for the blues in 2019 and has been an important player in the team since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival in January.
James delivered another excellent performance in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League final last month.
And according to The Athletic, Man City are now interested in signing James this summer window. The report claims Pep Guardiola is ‘a huge admirer’ of the player and has been impressed with his performances against City last campaign.
Guardiola is aware of James’ versatility as the defender is also capable of playing as a centre-back, as well as in central midfield.
However, Chelsea are intent on keeping James at Stamford Bridge and the player still has four years left on his current contract.
Speaking about his development under Tuchel, James said this month: ‘When a new manager comes in and you’re not in the team straight away you have to accept the decision.
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‘You have to work hard, try and prove to the manager that you should be playing.
‘These moments come around quite often in football, things happen so fast and I didn’t really get advice off anyone, I just went into training, carried on working hard and when I got my opportunity I knew I had to take it.
‘At the start of the season we had Frank Lampard and I was very lucky to play the majority of the games under him but when our new manager came in our style of play and formation changed. It was a big learning curve.’
City, meanwhile, are also looking to bolster Guardiola’s team with the signings of Harry Kane and Jack Grealish from Tottenham and Aston Villa respectively.
