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Upon joining Burnley, Danny Drinkwater did what footballers do. He posted on social media. ‘Time to get my career back on track,’ he wrote, ‘and get that love back for the game’.
That was the impression those who worked with him at Chelsea got, too.
This was a player who had fallen out of love with football, a midfielder going through the motions and picking up a paycheque (a handsome one at that, worth £100,000 per week).
Drinkwater pushed hard to secure his big move to Stamford Bridge in 2017 in the first place. He handed in a transfer request with Leicester City, and the King Power club eventually caved.
Twenty-seven years old at the time, he felt trophy-laden days lay ahead.
He had won the Premier League in 2016, played for England, made a £35million move to Chelsea, rekindling his partnership with N’Golo Kante in the process. All was well in Drinkwater’s world.
Then came the wilderness, the disappointment, the confusion.
Chelsea got to the Europa League final in 2018-19 and left a spot unused on their substitutes’ bench in the final against Arsenal. Drinkwater was not even trusted to fill an empty seat.
He did not receive a winners’ medal, of course, and now he is at Burnley, hitting headlines after apparently being beaten up by thugs on a night out in Manchester.
How did it get to this? It would be wrong to blame Drinkwater’s demise solely on Maurizio Sarri.
The 29-year-old midfielder was already frustrated towards the end of 2017-18, when Antonio Conte was in charge. He was not starting games, and his chances of representing Gareth Southgate’s England at the World Cup in Russia had gone up in smoke.
That summer, Conte left, and Sarri arrived. They spoke, Drinkwater let his feelings be known, and he left that meeting under the impression that he could became a first-teamer under his manager.
First, though, he would have to impress Sarri in pre-season. That did not happen.
He went all the way to Australia, where Chelsea were playing a single game against Perth Glory, and did not come off the bench. He received 45 minutes against Inter Milan in the International Champions Cup, then another 45 against Arsenal. He got an hour against Lyon.
Sarri then sat down with Drinkwater again, telling him he did not suit his system. Despite that, and with Chelsea open to letting him leave on loan, the midfielder stayed put.
Once the Premier League season started, he would train at Cobham, but no minutes would follow. It was demoralising, as it would be for any self-respecting footballer out there.
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