Danny Drinkwater left Leicester City where he was an important player for Chelsea on August 31, 2017, for a transfer fee worth €37.90 million, a move that ended up as a bad mistake for him and The Blues.
He joined Chelsea a year after he helped Leicester City to win the 2015-2016 Premier League title. One of the reasons he decided to make the move was because he wanted to continue winning major titles since Leicester City could not guarantee him that.
Fortunately for the 32-year-old English central midfielder, Danny Drinkwater helped Chelsea to win the FA Cup title in 2018 and a UEFA Super Cup title in 2022.
Between those periods, Drinkwater suffered a series of fitness issues and a drop in form. His form dropped so badly that Chelsea had to send him on loan to a series of less-rated clubs like Burnley, Aston Villa, and Turkish side Kasimpasa.
The English midfielder is currently on loan at Championship side Reading. He joined the Championship side after Chelsea had demoted him to the club’s under-23 team.
Unfortunately, Danny Drinkwater’s contract with Chelsea will expire on June 30, 2022, and Reading are not planning to retain him after his loan spell at the Championship club ends this summer. Hence, Drinkwater will be without a club from July 1 this year.
Before things turned this bad for Drinkwater who managed to make just three appearances for the Three Lions of England since 2016, the Englishman managed to play just 23 times for Chelsea in which he scored a goal in his entire stay at Stamford Bridge.
This means that where Danny Drinkwater had the best of his football career was at Leicester City where he played 218 times in all competitions in which he scored 15 goals and provided 23 assists between 2012 and 2017.
Late on Thursday, May 26, 2022, Danny Drinkwater took to his Instagram page to announce that his relationship with Chelsea has officially ended. In the post, the English midfielder lamented how injuries, lack of game time, and mistakes he has made turned his transfer to Chelsea into a business gone wrong.
The English footballer apologized to Chelsea fans for failing to live up to expectations while wishing he had the opportunity to showcase the best of himself in the club’s jersey.
Danny Drinkwater wrote: “My time at @chelseafc has come to an end… actually feels strange writing this. Me, the club, and fans are hugely disappointed with the outcome there is no doubt about that.
“Injuries, how I have been treated, mistakes I have made, issues of the pitch, lack of game time… the list of excuses could be endless but I would not and can not change what’s happened.
“I’m going to look at positives over the past 5 years, I have played with great players, coached by awesome managers, worked with some brilliant staff, met some fantastic people, lived in some beautiful places, traveled the world, and won some more silverware.
“Football a fantastic sport but this for both parties was a business move gone wrong, it’s as black and white as that. To the @chelseafc fans apologize for how this has turned out I would have loved for u to see me at my best in that shirt doing what I love. All the best.”
