For five years Danny Drinkwater was under contract with Chelsea FC, but in all that time he only made 23 appearances for the Blues. Now the midfielder is without a club – and doesn’t have a good word to say about his former club.
2016 Danny Drinkwater was at the top and Chelsea FC, well, not at the bottom, but mediocre as reigning champions. At the time, Drinkwater won the English Championship with Leicester City, while the Blues finished the Premier League season in tenth place.
A year later, Drinkwater defected to Chelsea on Deadline Day for around €38 million and signed a five-season deal at Stamford Bridge. Today, in a Sky interview, he says: “I’m angry about the way it went and the way I was treated. “
In all his years with the Blues, Drinkwater played only 23 games, was first loaned to Burnley, then to Aston Villa, to Turkey to Kasimpasa and finally to Reading. Now he asks himself, “Why did you throw those five years away?”
In 2019, the midfielder reveals, he struggled with mental health issues. In the summer of 2022, the 32-year-old finds himself without a club, but says: “I’m relieved because it’s clear the situation wasn’t good for me or the club.”
Meanwhile, Drinkwater has reached the autumn of his career and is grappling with the what-ifs. What is clear is that had he not left Leicester in 2017, Danny Drinkwater would be a different Danny Drinkwater today.