Chelsea are considering rewarding Reece James for his impressive loan spell at Wigan Athletic by making him part of their senior squad next season.

The 19-year-old right-back, who progressed through the club’s academy, has made a huge impact at Wigan after joining on a season-long loan last summer.

James has made 40 appearances in all competitions this term with his form seeing him voted in the EFL Championship team of the season.

As things stand, Chelsea cannot sign players for the next two transfer windows after being punished by Fifa for breaking rules over the recruitment of foreign minors.

The west London club’s appeal will be heard by the governing body on April 11 and it is expected they will take it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if the verdict doesn’t go their way.

But James is in contention to be promoted to the first team at Stamford Bridge anyway and used as the back-up to captain Cesar Azpilicueta.

That role is currently taken up by Davide Zappacosta, but he has struggled since joining from Torino for an initial £23m in 2017.

The Italy international has started just 10 games under Maurizio Sarri this season, none of which have been in the Premier League.

It is believed he is unsettled in the capital and will look for a move back to Serie A. Lazio made a bid to sign him in January, but the two clubs were unable to agree a fee.

James, who joined Chelsea at the age of six, was part of the England side that won the European Under-19 Championships in 2017.

His involvement in the squad will help Chelsea meet the homegrown quota required for the Premier League and European competitions.

The Blues have already seen two from their original list for 2018-19, Cesc Fabregas and Victor Moses, leave in January, but Gary Cahill, Danny Drinkwater and Rob Green are also likely to depart at the end of the campaign.