Danny Drinkwater joined Chelsea in the summer of 2017 for a fee of £35 million. The midfielder had been an integral part of the Leicester side that defied the odds and magically won the 2015/16 Premier League, but it's safe to say his spell in London never took off.
After spending five years at Chelsea, Danny Drinkwater made just 23 appearances for the club, scoring one goal. 22 of those appearances came in his first season with the club.
Since then, the three-time England international has been loaned out to a number of different clubs. Burnley signed Drinkwater on a six month loan deal in the summer of 2019 where he made just one appearance at the club due to some off the pitch issues he was facing.
The former Manchester United youth player was attacked outside a nightclub at the start of his spell at Turf Moor and after not being available in the weeks after, he wasn't able to force his way into Sean Dyche's side.
The following January, he was sent on loan to then Championship promotion hopefuls Aston Villa. However, a couple of months into his time at Aston Villa, Drinkwater was sent home from training after he allegedly headbutt his teammate Jota.
Danny Drinkwater's minutes played since 2015/16 📊 pic.twitter.com/KfacQMHWMm
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 8, 2022
Since then, he has had spells in Turkey with Kasimpasa and Reading last season.
Danny Drinkwater on his torid time at Stamford Bridge
In an interview with Sky Sports, Danny Drinkwater has opened up on his disappointing time with Chelsea.
Drinkwater said:
"I mean I'm relieved firstly, because again, it's not hard to see it definitely wasn't ideal for me. Didn't benefit the club. (I'm) angry probably because of how it's gone, the way I was treated. I'm not bitter about it because you can look back and have what ifs and hindsight is huge but I think it was just a long time coming I think.
"I moved with this big fee and to a big club. I had quite a lot of expectations, fairly because I don't think a lot of people expected the move to happen for that much money or whatever opinions and that so. "
He also spoke about overcoming injuries during pre season with Maurizio Sarri and his surprise at being allowed to leave on loan.
"Under Sarri I actually had a good pre season. You know, there was a little niggle maybe two weeks in where I had to have like a week off with an injury but other than that it was pretty much all good. Got to the last hour of the transfer window and I got pulled into the office, not expected at all. 'Don't think you're going to be in our plans' and I was like 'What?' "
Drinkwater went on to talk about how he refused to leave and wanted to sort everything out under Sarri who he said "off the pitch, we got on like a house on fire" before leaving on loan in the January.
Issues off the pitch
The midfielder also spoke about personal issues that impacted him off the pitch saying:
"My nan passed, grandad passed, dad diagnosed with leukemia, lost my dog and if you've got a dog you know. Was drink driving, which isn't like me at all you know. I'm not that person but I was so I made a mistake. I was fighting for my son which was going on again consistently which I thought I could deal with but it takes it's toll. It chips away all the time and then I think when somebody has too much to kind of juggle, it can hit you and I think during that time it did hit me. I was a bit like thinking 'Wow is this what it has come to?' like a felt almost a bit lost.
"That's definitely the lowest I think I've been. I didn't think I was depressed but I knew if I didn't speak to somebody, it could go that way because I was just fighting, fighting and fighting and it didn't help me."
Danny Drinkwater is now a free agent but has said that he is still hungry and has no intentions to retire.
After a tough few years, the 32-year-old will certainly still have options from a number of clubs to continue playing.
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