Reece James matches former Super Eagles captain’s long standing record at Chelsea

The English youngster is Chelsea's joint-highest goalscorer in the Premier League this season, and his continuous brilliance has helped him secure a starting shirt at Stamford Bridge

England and Chelsea fullback Reece James is now behind former Nigeria captain Mikel Obi after he became the third-youngest player to start 50 premier league matches for Chelsea.

In January 2009, Mikel became the second-youngest player after John Terry to start 50 Premier league games at 21 years and 264 days old.

50 – Reece James (21y 361d) is the youngest Chelsea player to start 50 Premier League matches for the club since John Obi Mikel in January 2009 (21y 264d) and the youngest Englishman since John Terry in April 2002 (21y 124d). Nifty.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 4, 2021

However, James became the third-youngest player at 21 years and 361 days after he started in Chelsea's 3-2 loss to West Ham.

But whilst it took Mikel three years to achieve this feat, James did it with a year to spare.

Mikel signed for Chelsea in July 2006, and he spent ten years at Stamford Bridge, during which he won two premier league titles and one Champions League title.

The former Nigeria youth star retired from international duty in 2019, calling time on his 14-year international career.