Reece James: The Chelsea record-breaker earning Beckham comparisons from experts

Where do you even start with Chelsea’s ridiculous 4-4 draw with Ajax in the Champions League on Tuesday?
Eight goals, two red cards, a late winner for the Blues disallowed by VAR, and that’s barely scratching the surface.
Sure, you could say that Frank Lampard’s side were rather fortunate to steal a point from the Dutch champions at Stamford Bridge but on the other hand, the comeback was completed by one of Chelsea’s young guns, and there’s no luck involved there.
Reece James fired home the equaliser in the 74th minute – his second senior goal for the club – to blow the roof off Stamford Bridge and keep Chelsea level with Ajax and Valencia on seven points in an incredibly tight Champions League group.
In doing so, he also made a bit of individual history, becoming Chelsea’s youngest-ever Champions League goalscorer at the age of 19 years and 332 days.
While the likes of Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham have excelled this season, injury initially hampered James’ development but he’s well and truly on the comeback trail now and after already receiving immense praise from Lampard, he was then lavished further after the match by Joe Cole, who compared his delivery to that of David Beckham.
“When I was playing in America [with Tampa Bay Rowdies], I came around to train with the kids,” said Cole, who has taken up a coaching role with Chelsea’s youth sides since retiring.
“We were having shooting session and the kids’ shooting was erratic, but James was on the money, on the money, whipping crosses, it was like watching Beckham.”
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