Chelsea’s captain has now racked up his 21st career injury, pushing his total time sidelined to approximately 753 days. For a player who turns 26 this year, those numbers read less like a medical chart and more like an obituary for what could have been.
The hamstring that won’t cooperate
Since late 2020, James has suffered at least 10 documented hamstring injuries alone. Ten. That’s roughly one every six months, a cycle so predictable you could almost set a calendar reminder for it.
His most recent setback in March 2026 was another hamstring problem. It marked his 10th such injury.
During the 2023/24 season, James required surgery that kept him out for 152 days according to Transfermarkt. That’s roughly five months wiped out by a single procedure. And it was just one chapter in a saga that has seen him miss over 136 matches across his Chelsea career.
