‘It has been a long journey to get here,’ said Danny Drinkwater on the day he signed for Chelsea in 2017, ‘but I am very happy and looking forward to helping the club win more trophies’.
‘Help,’ is perhaps the wrong word, looking back over the last 18 months.
Chelsea have indeed continued to win trophies – they lifted the FA Cup in 2017-18 and the Europa League in 2018-19. Drinkwater, though, has had limited influence.
Since signing for £35million from Leicester on September 1, 2017, the English midfielder who is paid £100,000 per week has been seen on the pitch for 522 minutes.
As it stands, Chelsea have paid £9.6m in wages to Drinkwater. Break it down and they have paid £18,390 per minute he has played. Add the £35m fee, and it becomes £85,440.
Former Blues boss Antonio Conte handed him the odd chance to impress two seasons ago, while Maurizio Sarri decided he had seen enough after the Community Shield.
A half-hour appearance at Wembley Stadium on August 5 was his one and only opportunity under Sarri, who showed his disdain for Drinkwater on several occasions.
The night Chelsea won the Europa League, for example, they named 11 substitutes on their bench compared to Arsenal's 12. Sat at home, watching on television, was Drinkwater.
It meant he finished the 2018-19 season having not appeared in any competition, other than that single second-half cameo against Manchester City in the Community Shield.
Sarri never looked like he fancied Drinkwater, and the answer may lie in his passing statistics.
In three Premier League seasons at Leicester, his best passing accuracy was 79 per cent.
Last season at Chelsea, Jorginho averaged 89 per cent, N’Golo Kante 88, Mateo Kovacic 92, Ross Barkley 91, Ruben Loftus-Cheek 88 and Cesc Fabregas 87.
Sarri preferred players who kept the ball at all costs and that, apparently, was not Drinkwater. The Italian had a history of leaving certain characters out in the cold at Napoli, too.
Sarri claimed to the media that he told Drinkwater he would go unused at the start of the season, but the midfielder wanted to stay put. He was not prepared to find a new club.
To the former Premier League title winner’s credit, he stayed professional throughout a regrettable season. Drinkwater, contracted until 2022, continued to train and did as told.
After their Europa League success, he wrote on social media: ‘Time now it’s finished to have a good think about changes for the new season. Bring on 2019/20.’
Ahead of that new campaign, Sarri has left Chelsea, but Drinkwater hasn’t.
He now has an entirely new manager to impress – one who may express sympathy.
No one knows the midfield role better than Frank Lampard. For one, he is likely to listen to the fans and, unlike Sarri, use N’Golo Kante in his preferred position.
He will also hand Drinkwater the opportunity to resurrect what has become a broken career.
At 29, the midfielder still has years left in him. He has been included in the squad travelling for pre-season in Dublin – a trip which could represent a second chance.
Drinkwater did not feel fit enough last November so he turned down Gareth Southgate’s invitation to be part of his England squad for friendlies against Germany and Brazil.
Now, he would love nothing more than to be invited to play, for club or country. That opportunity may come under Lampard, at least.
as_win10
2427
His father and mother gave the correct name to him. [Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
Wangnao_Wangnaolim
44
Danny Drinkwater and N'golo Kanté midfield duo won Leicester City a PL, I believe Drinkwater will do well. we've got lots of Midfielders and I believe if they compete amongst eachother, all of them have the potential to improve. RLC, Kanté, Kovacic, Barkley, Jorginho and Danny will be competing for 3 spots.