James McClean is back on a football pitch and back to his best, rattling Chelsea just two minutes into their pre-season clash with Wrexham in San Francisco on Wednesday night.
The Irishman made headlines earlier in the summer with his outspoken comments on RTÉ punditry duty during the EUROs but he is now back with his club as they prepare for their first season back in League One in 20 years.
To prepare for a massive season, the club have arranged back-to-back Stateside friendlies against Premier League opposition. The first of those saw them take a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth in Santa Barbara, before a headline clash with Chelsea in the San Francisco 49ers' Levi Stadium on Wednesday night.
It did not take long for things to get going, with McClean igniting a bust-up mere moments after kick-off in Santa Clara.
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Levi Colwill was furious with James McClean pre-season challenge
The game was barely two minutes old when James McClean left a late hit on Levi Colwill's leg just after the Chelsea defender had played the ball.
Colwill was absolutely livid with the challenge and wheeled around to grab McClean's jersey by the neck, before the Irishman graciously reciprocated.
A Levi Colwill no le gustó nada esa entrada del jugador del Wrexham, James McClean ¡Se les olvidó que es juego amistoso! 😳 pic.twitter.com/0010MulCyU
— ESPN Deportes (@ESPNDeportes) July 25, 2024
A gaggle of players circled around McClean and Colwill before they were finally separated by the match officials. Amazingly, neither McClean nor Colwill were booked for the incident.
We can't truthfully say that we're surprised to see James McClean of all Irish players involved in a scrap just two minutes into a pre-season friendly. It's not exactly unfamiliar to see McClean flying in with crunching tackles, and it set the tone for a tense contest by the Bay.
Chelsea went in 1-0 up at the break through Christopher Nkunku's strike, before Luke Bolton and Jack Marriott struck to put Wrexham ahead entering the final stages.
Lesley Ugochukwu equalised late on for Chelsea, but Wrexham will certainly take encouragement from earning a draw against such high-profile opposition.
And there can be no doubting that James McClean appears more than up for the coming season.
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