Chelsea hit gold on “world-class talent”

Chelsea supporters, whether they are England fans or not, may have celebrated when Reece James scored his first goal for his country during the international break.

The 25-year-old right-back found the back of the net for England with a sublime free-kick against Latvia in a 3-0 win for former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel.

James has endured yet another difficult season at Stamford Bridge, due to injuries, and it was a terrific moment for the full-back to get some confidence back with a phenomenal goal for his country.

The Chelsea academy graduate has missed a whopping 22 games through injury so far this term, making it the fourth campaign running with at least 20 matches out with injuries, as you can see in the table below.

Unfortunately, James has not been a reliable player for the Blues in recent years, due to his consistent unavailability, and that has taken a toll on his market value.

Reece James’ market value in 2025

At the time of writing (01/04/2025), the former Wigan Athletic loanee’s Transfermarkt value stands at £25m, which places him 11th out of all the current players who graduated from the Chelsea academy.

His value has drastically plummeted in recent years because of his lack of availability, as the full-back has been unable to consistently showcase his quality on the pitch whilst dealing with seemingly constant injury issues.

The English defender had a market valuation of £58m back in November 2022 and this means that his value has dropped by a whopping £33m in the subsequent two-and-a-half years.

His peak market value, which was the aforementioned £58m, came just off the back of his exceptional form for Chelsea in the 2021/22 campaign, whilst being managed by current England boss Tuchel and Graham Potter.

As you can see in the clips above, James provided a big threat in the final third when coming forward from a wing-back or full-back position, as he had the ability to score and create goals for the Blues.

He ended the campaign with a return of six goals and ten assists in 39 appearances in all competitions, which helped to form his £58m market valuation.

His injury issues have caused that valuation to plummet and that has also been the case for another successful Chelsea academy graduate in Mason Mount.

He was valued at £63m by Transfermarkt in November 2022, at the same time as James’ peak value, and that has since dropped all the way down to £23m as he has missed 50 matches through injury since the start of last season for Manchester United.

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Once worth over £100m combined in 2022, James and Mount are now worth just £48m combined and neither of them rank within the top ten most valuable former Cobham stars.

How James’ value compares to Chelsea’s best Cobham graduates

Chelsea’s academy has housed some incredible talent over the years and not all of them made their breakthroughs at Stamford Bridge, as they left during their teenage years to go and shine elsewhere in England or Europe.

The most valuable former Blues academy talent, as per Transfermarkt, is Bayern Munich superstar Jamal Musiala, who is currently valued at a staggering £117m.

He never made a first-team appearance for Chelsea, having joined Bayern at U17 level in 2019, and the club may consider him to be one that got away from them.

As you can see in the table above, the likes of Declan Rice and Michael Olise, who have starred in the Premier League for Arsenal and Crystal Palace respectively, are also among the most valuable former Cobham starlets.

The only current first-team star for Chelsea in the top ten list is central defender Levi Colwill, who has been at Cobham in the academy since 2011 – joining at the age of eight.

Levi Colwill’s soaring market value

The left-footed defender did not cost the Blues a penny, due to the age he joined the academy at, and has risen through the ranks to emerge as a key player for the first-team under Enzo Maresca.

Colwill did not immediately step into the senior side from the academy, though, as he followed in James and Mount’s footsteps by heading out on loan, playing for Huddersfield in the 2021/22 campaign and Brighton & Hove Albion in the 2022/23 season before his emergence at Stamford Bridge in 2023.

The young centre-back started 20 Premier League matches for the Blues and showcased his quality in the top-flight by winning 65% of his duels and making 3.2 tackles and interceptions per game, without making a single error that led to a goal or a shot for the opposition.

Colwill, who was described as a “world-class talent” by scout Jacek Kulig, has followed that up by starting all 27 of his appearances in the division this term, nailing down his place in the left centre-back role, and he has made one error that has led to a goal, whilst winning 58% of his duels.

As you can see in the table above, the England international’s value has soared since his spell on loan at Brighton, rising from £13m to £46m in under two years.

Colwill’s form at centre-back for Chelsea has led to him being the most valuable former academy player to currently play for the first-team, whilst being worth more than James and Mount – only £2m shy of being worth as much as both of them combined.

The 22-year-old star, who has produced defensive moments like the one in the image above, is a regular starter for the Blues and has only missed one game through injury this season, which shows that he has been a reliable figure on and off the pitch.

Chelsea have, therefore, hit the jackpot with Colwill because they have turned a player who cost them nothing into a first-team star whose value is soaring.

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At the age of 22, there is still plenty more development to come from the left-footed star and the Blues will be hoping that he can continue to progress, rather than regress in value as Mount and James have.