After winning the Premier League in his first season in England, Antonio Conte faced a lot of frustration in the summer transfer window. But after a lot of drama, Chelsea finally signed Danny Drinkwater on deadline day, for a fee of £35million.
Along with Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko was also brought in as potential replacements for Nemanja Matic, who had left for Manchester United earlier in the summer. Signing Drinkwater seemed like a wise move, given his amazing chemistry with N’Golo Kante during Leicester City’s title-winning season.
But things didn’t go according to plan for Drinkwater. He never received adequate game time, making just five Premier League starts during the previous term. The likes of Cesc Fabregas and Bakayoko were always preferred over him.
Despite a change in the management at Chelsea, there seems to be no luck for the 28-year-old. Maurizio Sarri has invested in his midfield by signing Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic (on loan). Based on the first four games so far, it is evident that Sarri prefers to play a 4-3-3 system, where his three preferred midfielders are Kovacic, Kante, and Jorginho. He also has Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as their backups.
Drinkwater has not been included in a single matchday squad so far. It is really unfortunate that a player who played a huge role in Leicester’s title-winning campaign can’t find a place on the bench at Chelsea. The significant loss of game time is doing immense harm as well.
At 28 years of age, he is effectively at the peak of his career and therefore, he needs to play as many games as possible. Furthermore, his lack of game time has prevented him from getting anywhere close to the national side. Drinkwater’s terrible tenure at Chelsea forced Gareth Southgate to look at other midfield options for the recent World Cup in Russia.
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With the transfer window coming up in January, the club and the player must move on. The Blues must offload him and recoup some of the money they had splashed for his signature. Doing so will remove an unhappy player from Stamford Bridge and at the same time, Drinkwater must prioritize his future and move to a club where he can play regularly.
