Domestic-league season · Leicester.
Missed 7 of Leicester's ~46 games this season through 7 injury absences (injury). He still appeared 34 times — a solid return given how little of the season he was available. His rating is judged mainly on the games he was fit to play.
| Competition | Apps | G | A | Min | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Championship | 34 | 11 | 4 | 2127 | 7.02 |
Following his move to Leicester, James's current-season form is up 171% on last season (Season 17→46), while his Rating held around 70. That makes this his strongest season for form to date.
| Season | Club | Apps | G | A | Match | RTG | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | Leicester · 23rd | 34 | 11 | 4 | 7.02 | 70 | 46 |
| 2024/25 | Rennes · 12th | 31 | 0 | 1 | 6.9 | 71 | 17 |
| 2023/24 | Birmingham · 22nd | 42 | 8 | 0 | 6.79 | 68 | 37 |
| 2022/23 | Birmingham · 17th | 33 | 0 | 0 | 6.46 | 61 | 7 |
| 2021/22 | Birmingham · 20th | 20 | 1 | 2 | 6.49 | 63 | 14 |
Domestic-league totals per season. RTG = Field Insider Rating (potential / ceiling); Season = age-blind form that year.
| Competition | Apps | G |
|---|---|---|
| Friendlies | 2 | 0 |
Caps & goals this season.
J. James is a 22-year-old defensive midfielder at Leicester, rated 70 overall by Field Insider's model, ranking 53rd of 493 in the Championship and 374th of 2861 U-23 players tracked. An emerging talent, he has been a regular starter this season (60.6% of available minutes). His defensive output reads 1.82 tackles, blocks and interceptions per 90. Below: strengths, watch-points, market-value outlook and the latest transfer news on James.
Judged on this season alone, James graded 46 — an excellent campaign that ranks top 14% of the 65 defensive midfielders in the Championship, on 11 goals, 4 assists and 1.819 defensive actions per 90.
Year-on-year, that's a clear step up on last season (Season 17 → 46). Across the 5 seasons we hold, it's his best return yet.
On long-term talent our Rating reads 70, top 5% of the 65 defensive midfielders in the Championship. At 22 James is still climbing toward his ceiling, and a market index of 85.1 reflects that trajectory.
Read the appearance count in context: James missed 7 games through injury (injury) out of roughly 46 this season. The 34 he did play is a solid return on the time he was fit, and his ratings are weighted toward those games rather than the ones he sat out injured.
James is operating at his career peak — the 2023/24 level is the level.
1.82 tackles, blocks & interceptions per 90 — light defensive volume, with 3 clean sheets across 34 appearances. Doing that for a relegation-threatened side (23rd of 24) is harder than the bare numbers suggest: a back line under more pressure has to defend more often and protects fewer leads, so the volume — and any clean sheets — carry real weight. Going forward he chipped in 11 goals and 4 assists — a useful bonus from the back.
With a Rating of 70, James carries the 3rd-highest potential of the defensive midfielders in the Championship (top 5%), and he is posting that for a relegation-threatened side (Leicester finished 23rd of 24) — individual numbers are harder to earn on a struggling team, so his underlying level likely sits a touch above the ranking. Defensively he reads as light defensive volume (1.82 tackles, blocks & interceptions per 90), with a bit more on the ball than most in the role. Approaching peak years; value is still building (price multiplier 1.9×) with the best seasons likely ahead. With this floor already at 22, the ceiling gets tested by a step up in level — one to track.
Generated from Field Insider's rating model · AI-written analysis to follow.
The gold line is market value — an index (not €) blending rating, age and league. It climbs through the early 20s, peaks around ages 23–27 (~90), then tapers with age. At 22, James sits on 85.1, still climbing toward its peak. The blue line is James's projected Rating — 70 today — recomputed at each age, so it follows the same rise-and-fall as a career matures and declines. Solid = up to today; dashed = projected.
€5M total transfer fees · 4 moves
No transfer news found for this player.
