Chelsea star Reece James reveals he ‘hates’ transfer windows

Chelsea star Reece James has revealed that he ‘hates’ transfer windows.

The 23-year-old right-back, who came through the Blues’ academy, has missed large parts of the 2022-23 campaign due to a knee injury.

His club Chelsea have spent over £600m on players since the summer with new owner Todd Boehly splashing the cash after succeeding Roman Abramovich.

The west London club splurged around £300m in the January transfer window alone, smashing the British transfer record to sign Enzo Fernandezin a £106.8m deal from Benfica and signing Ukraine international Mykhailo Mudryk for £88.5m.

Chelsea brought in a total of eight players in January – seven on permanent deals – as well as Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid, with the Blues paying £10m for his services for six months.

One player they decided to sign was 19-year-old Malo Gusto from Lyon, who has been loaned back to the French club and is expected to provide competition for James at right-back next season.

James, speaking to Sky Sports on Monday, has revealed that he is not a fan of transfer windows.

‘The transfer window is one of my biggest hates,’ he said. ‘The January period is always so busy with many games and then you have transfer noise.

‘It’s all a bit too much in one month, I don’t really listen to much… it’s a crazy month.’

He added: ‘I quite enjoy playing with new players, you don’t really know what to expect from them.

‘They’ve all come in from different places all over the world, different teams, and they are all here to help at the end of the day. The quicker they can settle the quicker they can help.’

Chelsea have struggled massively this season with Graham Potter’s side ninth in the Premier League table and 10 points off the top four.

But James is confident they can become ‘one of the team teams in the world’ once their new players have settled in.

‘I don’t think there’s a trophy we can’t win,’ the England international said.

‘When that happens I don’t know, but with the team we’re building and what the club is turning into…

‘With all the young players, once we have played together for a longer period of time I think we’re going to be one of the best teams in the world.’