“I am very convinced that Reece will be in top shape before the European Championships,” said Lempainen. “Chelsea will decide on how long he takes, but more likely we are talking about that kind of period [three to four months].”
James has been plagued by hamstring problems. Lempainen believes surgery will minimise the risk of recurring injuries in his right leg and has planned a rehab programme that he hopes will also strengthen the left side.
“Yes, absolutely, the surgery gives Reece a better chance of staying fit and not having a recurring problem,” said Lempainen. “We are only talking about the right side, of course, because he also had some problems in his left side before. Now, also during the rehab, particularly in the last phase when we do the sport-specific rehab, we will do our best that these risks should be minimised. The hamstring on the right will be stronger, yes.
“This is the first time I’ve worked with Reece. When I do operations for high-level athletes, one of the basic requests is that I want to be involved during the whole rehab process. It doesn’t matter if you do a good operation if the rehab is not done correctly and now I will be part of the whole rehab process and monitor that.
“We will try to do our best during the rehab process to assess the risk factors in Reece’s left hamstring and try to help his strength, mobility and sprinting technique, so Reece can enjoy high-level football again.”
On whether or not James is likely to return to Finland during his rehabilitation, Lempainen added: “Both ways are possible, Reece coming to Finland again and me travelling to London. But also, we regularly do return to play tests for high-level athletes.
“We also discussed with Chelsea’s medical director about the rehab process and the sport-specific phase that will be very important. When he is starting to train with the team again in future, that is a very important phase and we have spoken about Reece coming back to Finland when the time is right to do those tests.”